The Hawkgirl
by KyraTheHuntress
Summary: A strange new clone is discovered at Cadmus by Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash, one with the powers of Hawkman and Hawkwoman. What will change on the Team now that they have a seventh member? And how will the Hawks adjust to a new type of challenge: being parents? *title is subject to change*
1. Chapter 1

Dark. It was dark. I knew that.

It was also cold. Very cold.

I couldn't move. I tried to, but I was frozen in place.

 _Place...what was this place? Where was I?_

 _I remember...something…tests, experiments…_

There were voices, outside my container. I heard them. _But what did they want?_

Suddenly, it was warmer. My limbs felt freer. I could move.

And then I was falling. And then I wasn't. I felt something grasping me. A voice spoke.

"Are you alright?" I heard words now. I thought about the question. I felt weak, but I was unhurt. My limbs felt stiff and sore. But I was okay. I nodded in answer.

I tried to stand, but my legs gave way and I was once again caught. I tried to open my eyes, but the light was too bright and I shut them tight again.

"Who are you?" Another voice spoke, a different one from the first. I thought that same question myself. Words manifested from a dark corner of my mind.

"H-Hawk...girl," I managed. It was a strain on my throats that hadn't spoke in so long. How long had it been? A few weeks? Months? Years? I wasn't sure.

I heard talking again. I opened my eyes again to find that the light didn't hurt as much as before. The words moved too fast for me to pick up, but I recognized one word: wings.

I had wings? I turned around at the thought and to my surprise a pair of dark brown bird wings met my eyes. I cried out in surprise, and tried to crawl away, but the wings seemed to follow my movements.

Three figures, I now saw, tried to console me, but I backed into a wall that was cold to the touch. One was in front of the other two. Was he their leader? He wore a red-colored shirt and had weird tattoos on his arms. I looked to the two at his side.

One was wearing yellow and had red goggles on his head and red pants, and the last was shorter than the others, wearing a red shirt with an "R" on the side partially hidden by a black cape. His eyes were covered by a mask.

They didn't seem to be attacking me, so I relaxed a little. I heard a shuffle behind me and turned to realize the brown wings were pressed awkwardly against the cold wall. I leaned forward to get a better look at them.

They responded to my movements, and I realized that they were connected to my back. I tried moving them on my own, stretching my shoulders up and down. The wings- my wings- did the same.

They looked frail, sick almost. They were small, and their movements were stiff and sent jolts of pain into my shoulders.

I turned back to the three, who were still staring at me with shocked amazement. I stood, this time with success.

"Who...who are you?" I asked, my voice creaking like I hadn't used it in years, which I possibly hadn't.

"I am Aqualad." The leader spoke first, in a formal tone. "This is Robin and Kid Flash. We will not hurt you." He pointed to the yellow caped boys, respectfully.

I nodded. They didn't seem like the mean, angry types, and they had released me from...somewhere I didn't know.

A door was to my right that the three went through. I followed to find a dim hallway outside. They seemed to be going to some sort of doorway, so I decided they were my best options to get out.

The doors opened to a small room. I stepped inside, looking around at my surroundings.

"Out is up!" I heard Kid Flash say. I looked. Up at a screen that showed numbers descending.

"Project Kr is down," Robin replied. My mind was beginning to clear as I heard more words spoken.

"What is...Project K-r?" I asked, pronouncing the two letters slowly.

"We're about to find out," Robin answered as the doors opened again.

This hallway was much different than the one I saw. Did that still make it a hallway? Could things be the same and yet...different?

"Bizarre-looking hallway one, or bizarre-looking hallway two?" I looked between the two options, not wanting to go through either of them.

 _ **Sister,**_ a voice called out. I turned to the others, confused, but they didn't seem to hear anything. _ **Why are you here?**_

 _They freed me,_ I answered. _Aqualad, Robin, Kid Flash,_ I continued. I seemed to be answering a lot of questions today, and yet I was the one who wanted answers.

I saw a creature, an alien-looking figure wearing a long white shirt and pants similar to my own.

 ** _Move, sister,_** the voice returned as the creature's horns glowed and I realized that _he_ was the voice.

Boxes from the sides of the hallway floated on his command, and were sent flying towards the four of us. I launched myself at the side to get out of the way, using my wings for an extra push and I landed against the flesh-like hallway side.

 _No, stop! Those are my friends!_ I pleaded to the creature. I remembered him now. He helped me, and now he had tried to hurt me. Why?

I don't know why I called them my friends; I barely knew them. But they had freed me. I owed them my life.

I dashed from my place, running and following the others as Kid Flash sped ahead of us. I heard a sound, then saw him put a can in place to hold a closing door open.

I jumped and used my wings as leverage to duck into the door as alien-things chased after the four of us. Aqualad kicked the can that held the door open, leaving us locked inside. I didn't like it.

I saw Robin produce a glowing blue circle-thing from his gauntlet and confirmed that we were indeed trapped inside.

"Uh, guys?" Kid Flash called from deeper in the room. "You'll want to see this." I followed Robin and Aqualad to a computer-desk in front of some sort of container. For some reason, the sight looked familiar to me. Is that where I had come from? A container like that?

I saw a boy inside. My eyes widened and then I was in front of the container. I put my hand up on the glass, looking up at the still face that was also familiar.

"Brother," I said under my breath. I remembered him. But he was too violent. I wasn't violent enough. He was too unstable while I refused to fight. I remembered that.

"They're making a slave out of...Superman's son," I turned back to the three as I heard Kid Flash speak. No doubt they had been talking about the boy. _But if he was a slave...what did that make me?_

"Now we contact the League," Aqualad said.

"The League? What league?" I asked, still wanting some answers about them.

"The Justice League. Y'know, Flash, Batman, Superman...Hawkman, Hawkwoman," Kid Flash explained. The names were all unfamiliar except two.

"You know… Hawkman and Hawkwoman?" I questioned. Those names sounded so familiar…I knew they had to do something with me…

"Well we-"

"A clone!" I suddenly shouted. I stepped back and ducked my head down, embarrassed at my outburst. They all looked at me with strange expressions.

"I am a clone born from DNA acquired from Hawkman and Hawkwoman," I stated the purpose I served as I remembered the words. They looked at one another, seemingly sharing a silent conversation.

My attention was turned back to the boy, where three little alien-things' horns started glowing. _That can't be good…_

"This, all of this, is wrong." Kid Flash turned to look at me briefly.

"We can't leave him here," Robin chimed in. I agreed, but stayed silent.

"Set him free," Aqualad commanded Robin, who pulled up the glowing blue circle-thing again.

And then the glass moved. I stepped back as he was freed. He clenched his fists, and I felt fear take hold. I didn't know what would happen.

With a start, he lunged at us. He swatted me away like a fly, knocking me back and against the metal door. I cried out in pain as my wings were smashed between it and my body and I fell to the floor.

With blurry vision, I saw the Superboy over power the rest of the three, one by one. I wanted to help, but I was too weak, too hurt.

 _Please...someone...help…_ The world went dark again.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize in advance for anything I may have gotten wrong about Thanagarians.**

 **With that said, welcome all to my crappy 1-am-idea fanfic! I don't know how long this'll run for, but it'll mainly follow the first season of Young Justice, with a few personal plots tying in as well.**

 **Reviews, favorites, and followers are all welcome.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or anything related to it. I only own my OC Hawkgirl.**


	2. Chapter 2

**_You must awaken...NOW!_**

I shocked my eyes open. At first I didn't know where I was, and then I realized there was a wall of glass.

I was in a container. Again.

I tried to move, but something pushed against my wrists. I was strapped down. I turned my head, I could still do that. I tried moving my wings, but a pain told me that they were tied down too.

 ** _Sister,_** the voice was in my head again.

 _You!_ I shouted at the alien-thing, wherever he was.

 ** _Yes, it is I,_** he answered. **_Your friends are in danger. Time is running short. You do not have much longer._**

 _W...what can I do? I can't even move._

Suddenly, the restraints were off of my body. I saw the alien thing with large glowing horns lift a hand and the glass lifted.

 _You're...helping me again..why?_ I asked.

 ** _You must find the others. Find Superboy and escape. Good luck, sister._** He was walking away.

 _Wait!_ I called out, but he was already gone. I was alone again. I didn't know what to do.

I felt...lost.

The door was opening. I trusted my instincts and hid behind the container.

"What?!" A voice yelled. It hurt my ears, but I dared not make a sound.

"Where's the hybrid?" The voice asked. I heard footsteps, and they were getting closer.

I started to sweat. I ran over the options in my head. One, I could stay and hide here and probably get shoved back into a container again, with no psychic alien-thing to help me out. Or two, I could rush out at the person, catch them off-guard, and escape to find the others and Superboy.

I went with option two.

Dashing out of my hiding place with a level of strength I didn't know I had, I clotheslined whoever it was with a wing and disappeared through the door.

This is good, I thought as I saw I was still in the weird fleshy hallway. I looked both ways, wondering which way would lead me to my friends.

 ** _Turn left, sister,_** the alien spoke in my head. I obeyed. Right now, I didn't have much choice. I heard the person I had knocked down running through the hallway, and I picked up speed using my wings to jump and gain more ground.

They still couldn't really fly yet, still being small, weak, and stiff, but I made do with what I had.

Someone was coming. I heard their footsteps, but it wasn't the same person from before. They had gone somewhere else. No, it was someone new.

I slowed my pace. The new person was getting closer, and closer. Before I knew it, Superboy was there, a few feet from me. I halted, unsure of what to do.

He saw me. _Well, too late to do anything else now,_ I thought. At first I thought he would attack me again, but he just...stopped.

"...Superboy?" I asked tentatively. I didn't want to trigger him into "attack-mode" again. He looked at me not with anger, but something different. Determination.

"Come on." He growled, shaking the small alien-thing off his shoulder. I nodded, glad that he wasn't attacking.

We ran together through the hallway, to a round metal door, the same one that we had opened to find him. With his super strength, he proved the door right off its hinges, creating sparks of electricity

I saw a scientist in there. I recognized him. A yellow armor-clad person was also there, along with the psychic alien-thing.

I narrowed my eyes at the scientist. I didn't like him. I shot forward with a burst of speed augmented by my wings and threw him back against a wall with strength I was surprised to know I had.

Superboy had pushed the armored person and the alien-thing to the ground, and it didn't look like they were getting up very soon.

"Am I glad to see a friendly face," Kid Flash commented, looking in my direction. "But are you here to free us, or fry us?" He asked at Superboy. _Fry you? How can Superboy do that?_

He squinted for a second, then replied "I don't seem to have heat-vision, so I guess helping is my only option." _Heat-vision? I want heat-vision!_

At that moment, Robin's restraints broke loose and he dropped to the floor, rubbing his wrists.

"Lucky Batman isn't here. He'd have my head for taking so long." _Batman? Who was Batman?_ He sounded cool, and also a little scary.

"Seriously? That's what you're worried about? The whole League'll have our heads after tonight!" Kid Flash shouted from his container.

That made me think of freeing the others. I hopped up to Kid Flash's level and broke the glass with a few hits from my hands. While Aqualad's container opened, I broke the restraints around Kid Flash's hands.

Helping him downward, the scientist started to get up. "You'll never get out of here. I'll have you all back in pods before morning!" _Pods…? Oh right, containers._

I kept running, following Aqualad's lead down the hall. I saw some big alien-things heading our way, but instead of stopping and turning away, I kept running faster. The promise of freedom overtook my other instincts.

I leaped forward using my wings, and barreled into one, sending the creature to the ground and knocking over another one behind it.

I turned behind me to see other, smaller alien-things emerging from the wall.

"Behind you!" I called out. A pain exploded in my side as I was knocked into a hallway side. I clutched my head, groaning. I looked to see the larger creature be punched in the face by Superboy, who continued to fight the other large alien-things as well.

Gathering my strength, I stood and dashed through the alien-things and to the other three.

"Superboy, the goal is escape, to to bury ourselves here!" Aqualad called to the boy, who was currently taking on about three other creatures at one time.

"YOU WANT ESCAPE?!" He shouted angrily. _Oh no,_ I thought as he grabbed one creature by the arm and tossed it into two others, knocking them all down.

I turned around to see Aqualad forcing open the doors that held the moving room, but there was no room, just an empty pit.

I stretched my wings, looking up into the dark and wondering if I can actually make it up that far. _Only one way to find out,_ I thought as I took a leap of faith and flapped my wings as hard as I could.

It wasn't enough, I soon realized. I felt a falling sensation, and pushed from one side to grab onto the other to keep from falling further. My feet hooked into a ledge and I let go, about two ledges up from Robin and Kid Flash.

I looked up to see Superboy also falling. My eyes widened until a small hook was thrown into the wall and Aqualad caught onto it.

"Superman can fly...why can't I fly?" Superboy asked to no one in particular.

"Don't know, but it looks like you can still jump tall buildings in a single bound. Still cool." Kid Flash commented.

"Don't feel bad, Superboy. I can't exactly fly, either." I said, ruffling my wings a bit. They were still too weak to take off from the ground or keep me in the air for more than a few seconds.

"Looks like this'll be our exit," Robin said, looking up at the moving room coming down at us.

Superboy broke through a pair of doors and I jumped through, instinctively rolling on the ground when I landed. _Don't know where or when I picked that up, but...good to know,_ I thought, looking back as the moving room dropped past us.

I heard a screeching noise and turned to see a bunch of alien-things blocking our pathway out. But I was strangely not afraid. I stood by Superboy, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin, and I wasn't afraid.

But fighting wasn't the plan. Escaping was. I followed the others down a now normal-looking hallway. Superboy shouted for us to turn left, and we all obliged. I wondered briefly how he could have known which way to go, and then I remembered about the psychic alien-thing. He was most likely guiding us.

Superboy led us down another hallway until we met a dead-end. _Well, I guess the alien-thing wasn't really helping us after all,_ I thought with disdain.

"Are you trying to get us re-podded?" Kid Flash asked.

"No, I…I don't understand…" Superboy looked downcast, and my first instinct was to console him.

"Don't apologize, this is perfect!" Robin exclaimed, a smile on his face.

"Wait, perfect? Perfect for what?" Was I the only one confused, or was this just an off-day for me? I sighed in defeat, hopping up and crawling into the vents, following the rest of them.

"Great, at this rate, we'll never get out." Kid Flash said.

"Wait, listen," Superboy said. I obeyed. Screeching... _oh no…_

"Move!" I commanded the rest, cringing at my own mistake as the word echoed through the small metal vents.

We crawled faster, finally seeing some light in another hallway.

"Robin, what did you do?" I asked, wondering why there were no alien-things surrounding us yet. I noticed he still had his glowing circle-thing up on his arm, so I figured he must've been behind it.

"I hacked the motion sensors," he replied, a sly grin on his face.

"Sweet," Kid Flash said.

"Still plenty of space between us and them."

"But I've finally got room to move." Kid Flashed turned to a doorway, putting on his goggles. He dashed out the door faster than any of us could, running up a staircase.

I looked up at a yellow-ish blur speeding up, and I jumped and grabbed onto a rail. Using my wings as an extra boost, I climbed up the hole in the middle, landing on about every other railing.

We continued upwards, the feeling of freedom just on the other side of the walls made me more energized than ever. I hadn't ever seen the outside, I barely even remember any pictures. I'd forgotten what outside even is. But I wanted to know.

With vigor, we climbed up through the stairway, stopping at the top. I climbed over the rail and through a doorway as red light shined from above.

"No…" I breathed as I saw the heavy-looking door blocking our way.

"We're cut off from the street," Aqualad said.

"Thanks, my head hadn't noticed." Kid Flash rubbed his head on the floor. I balled my fists. It wasn't fair! All I wanted to do was go outside, and they stopped me right before I could. The scientist, the armored person, they all denied me that freedom. It made me angry.

I joined Aqualad and Superboy in trying to pry the door open, using my pent-up anger out on it, but it still held tight, which just made me angrier.

I heard a large alien-thing approaching from behind. I narrowed my eyes. _Good, I need a fight_ , I thought.

But Robin kicked a door open, prompting everyone to follow. I didn't want to, but fighting one alien-thing wouldn't get the door open or make another one appear. So, I followed too.

Right into a trap. Screeching alien-things, large alien-things, smaller ones, and the armored person were all there. I stood my ground, preparing for a fight, but then the smaller ones' horns began glowing and soon enough, I was knocked out again.

 _Great, more black…_

* * *

 **A/N: Whaaaat?! Two chapters on one night? Is she crazy?**

 **Why yes I am, thank you for noticing. *maniacal laugh***

 **But anyway, don't be shy to tell me how you feel about this! Thoughts, comments, concerns, criticisms? Let me know!**

 **As always, reviews, favorites, and followers are greatly appreciated. =)**

 **I don't own Young Justice or anything DC.**


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke shortly after to find Superboy already awake beside me, along with the psychic alien-thing with glowing horns. I had a feeling he was speaking to Superboy, although I couldn't hear his words.

"I. Choose. Freedom." He stated. I stood beside him, proud to choose to live my own life.

"We live our own lives now," I stated to the alien-thing and to the armored person, standing with my brother.

Wait, was he really my brother? We had grown together, but that was before...ugh…

My head burned like it was frozen again. But I still thought of Superboy as my brother. We were both clones. It was only right to refer to him as such.

"Guardian?" Aqualad asked behind us two, directing it at the armored person.

"Go. I'll deal with Desmond." He-Guardian- commanded. _Wait, his name is Guardian? And the scientist is Desmond?_

I didn't have time to find answers for my questions before a grave voice spoke out.

"I think not. Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus." Desmond produced a vial of some unhealthy-looking liquid. I certainly didn't want to drink any of that.

But he did. To all of our shock, he began transforming. Crying out in pain, he fell to his knees and on the floor. His lab coat was ripped to shreds and his skin began peeling off. I was thoroughly disgusted.

The transformation finished and he stood again, about five feet taller than he previously was, which was still taller than me. I steeled myself, ready for a fight with this...this monster.

"Everyone, back!" Guardian commanded. He rushed at the thing that used to be human, but he was backhanded into a wall for his efforts.

Superboy and I had the same idea at the same time, and rushed at the monster. Superboy reached him first as he got a hit in while I swooped from below and gave Desmond an uppercut.

But I had underestimated him, and he pummeled Superboy into the ground and caught me by a wing and threw me at the ceiling. I fell right into the monster's fist, which sent me flying through the ceiling and onto the next floor up.

Superboy was tougher than I was, and returned a few punches before Desmond threw him into the ground.

Superboy and the monster soon followed through another hole. I joined the fight again, instincts ruling over everything else as we tag-teamed Desmond. I went for the legs and Superboy went for his head, but I overshot and I ended up being smacked into Superboy by Desmond's large hand. He grabbed Superboy's legs and my waist and smashed us together like one of those monkey toys with the cymbals.

Desmond stopped, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the other three arrive through the two holes. He then tossed me and Superboy at them.

I landed hard on my shoulder and skidded across the floor, away from the rest, but I ignored the spikes of pain and got up again, ready for round two.

Kid Flash ran ahead of Desmond and appeared behind him while Superboy and Aqualad collectively punched him in the face, knocking him backwards and over Kid Flash, who was crouched over.

I rejoined the fight, barreling into the monster with my good shoulder while he was still down. I succeeded in turning him over on his stomach.

Superboy stepped up, and as Desmond charged him into another beam, I took the opportunity to run the giant again, but he smacked me away and into a wall. My shoulder hurt worse now, but I refused to stop fighting. Something had clicked within me, and now I was more alive than I'd ever felt before.

I saw Aqualad grab the things on his back that I hadn't noticed before, as his tattoos glowed and a whip appeared, snaring the monster's arm from hitting Superboy again. He used that as leverage to pull on the whip and send a kick at Desmond's face and balancing on the wall before the whip changed into a mace.

But Desmond caught the weapon, and sent Aqualad into the floor, making a dent. I bared my teeth.

"That's enough, ugly," I called, speeding towards him. I picked up one block that had fallen on Superboy when the monster threw him at a wall and chucked it with all my strength at him.

He simply punched through it. _What does it take to beat this guy?_ I was growing tired.

Kid Flash ran towards him as he attempted to smash Aqualad, but he rolled away in time.

I reassessed my strategy again. Barreling into him didn't seem to work. Neither did throwing things.

I decided to hide out to rest until a new plan can be thought up. _But the longer I wait here, the more my friends will be endangered,_ I thought bitterly.

Now I know the meaning of "between a rock and a hard place. _If I go out there, I could be hurt even worse. But if i don't, my friends could lose this fight._ And I didn't want to know what would happen if we did.

With every roar and punch, I realized, the ceiling shook and sent dust down on us. _Of course,_ I thought. Robin also shared my thoughts. I looked over and gave him a nod, and began hitting the pole behind me in hopes that it would break.

It did. Within a few punches the pole broke apart. Kid Flash also seemed in on the plan, as he raced towards the monster and enticed it into breaking more of the beams.

Superboy and Aqualad began hitting the beams as well, and before long the ceiling threatened to come down on top of us. That wasn't good...was this part of the plan?

Ah, now I see, I thought as Robin drew an "X" on the floor as Aqualad sprayed water on it. Kid Flash drove the monster right into the trap, and me and Superboy finished the job with simultaneous punches to the face.

Aqualad electrified the water while Desmond was still standing on it, as Robin commanded us to move.

I did, faster than I possibly had before, even when we were being chased. The rest of the pillars destroyed, the roof collapsed, sending the rock down towards us.

The others gathered near to Superboy to be protected from the debris, and I wrapped my wings around them as far as they would reach to offer further protection.

"Is...is it over now?" I asked, out of breath from the weight of the rocks. Superboy helped one off of me as I stood. When the dust cleared, I saw that the entire building had been demolished. _Oops..._

"We...did it." Aqualad said. I felt pride about taking down that monster, although I knew it hadn't been just me. I looked back to see Robin and Kid Flash smiling about the whole thing, and I finally let my mouth form one as well.

Wait, was this my first smile since I woke up? I think it was.

It looked like the fight had ripped some fabric from their costumes, and my own clothing had rips and tears all over it from the fight, although thankfully it revealed little.

"See? The moon," Kid Flash said. The...moon? What was that? I looked up at the sky to see a bright glowing disk against a dark sky.

It...was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I looked up more at the tiny pinpricks of light that dotted the rest of the sky, forgetting their names in all of their wonders.

But then there was something else. Something blocked some of the lights from my view. I squinted, trying to make the figure out. To my surprise, it was a man.

A man with winged on his back. Wings like mine.

I stared in amazement as costumed men and women descended from the sky to surround us in the debris field.

I realized I had stepped forwards toward the winged man in my trance. He looked visibly surprised behind his large helmet. A woman landed next to him, also having wings. I looked back and forth between the two, too surprised to speak.

The winged man took a step forward to meet me.

"Who are you?" He demanded. I recited the few words I had known since before my awakening.

"I am Hawkgirl, a clone born from DNA from Hawkman and Hawkwoman." I stated semi-proudly. Hawkman seemed shocked, and glanced back at Hawkwoman, who wore a similar expression of surprise.

Their gazes were harsh, but I gave them a small smile to show that I meant them no harm. Wordlessly, Hawkman was the one to step up to me. I tilted my head back so that my eyes met his in a silent conversation.

He seemed to be debating whether or not to speak. But instead he raised an armored hand and put it carefully on my shoulder, like he was afraid to touch me. But his action just made me smile bigger.

"I'm Superman's clone," I heard Superboy blurt out, breaking my trance as I turned to face the same direction as the others.

I hadn't noticed it before, but there was a man who looked an awful lot like Superboy -Superman, I guessed. There was also a man with a black cape that seemed to swallow him whole, behind him a red suited man with a lightning bolt symbol like Kid Flash's, a woman with blonde hair and a black suit and knee-high boots, a man with a green hood and a quiver and bow on his back, and a man with an orange shirt and green pants with a belt that had the same symbol as Aqualad's.

I was suddenly too dumbstruck for words. So when the black caped man commanded for us to start talking, I didn't know what to say.

I instead listened as the others recounted what had happened at Cadmus. After that, some of the others took Desmond away while the rest got into groups to discuss what would happen next. I sent a hopeful glance at Hawkwoman, but she just sharply turned her head away. I felt an ache in my chest and I wasn't sure it was from the fight.

With a look from Hawkman, however, she lowered her shoulders and walked up towards me. I squared my shoulders, not sure of what would come next.

"Me and...Hawkman, we'll figure something out for you. Just...stay out of trouble for now." With that, she lifted off into the air and followed Superman as they flew off to secure the monster we fought.

It wasn't exactly a good first meeting, but I thought it was a step in the right direction.

"Cadmus will be investigated, all fifty-two levels." The man with the cape and cowl spoke with a deep yet calm voice.

"But let's make one thing clear-"

"You should've called!" The red Flash man spoke up.

"End results aside, we are not happy." Wait, what? Why was I getting in trouble? They found me here! If anything I'm innocent!

"You will not be doing this again." He sounded angry, and now I wasn't going to be the one to get on this man's bad side, so I kept my thoughts to myself.

"I am sorry, but we will." Aqualad was the first to speak.

"Aqualad, stand down," the orange-clad man commanded.

"Apologies my king, but no." Wait, he was a king? "We did good work tonight, the work you trained us for." Well, I hadn't had any training from these people in particular, but I did have my own training that I remember. I liked where this was going.

"Together, on our own, we forged something powerful, important." I nodded in agreement.

"If this is about your treatment at the Hall, the three of you-"

"The _five_ of us," Kid Flash corrected his superior. "And it's not."

I stepped up alongside them, ready to put my two cents in. "Tonight we fought the good fight. Each of us played our own part in this. Together, we can be a part of something greater."

"Batman, we're ready to use what you've taught us, or why teach us at all?" Robin chimed in towards the black caped man, Batman.

"Why let them tell us what to do? It's simple: get on board, or get out of the way." Superboy drove the final nail into the coffin with his input. Or maybe it was the death glare.

"Give me three days," was all Batman said after what seemed like hours before turning and walking away with the other people. T _hree days for what? To give us a trial run? A deadline? For him to make up his mind?_ I shook my head, clearly not expecting that answer.

"So...uh, what now?" I asked, turning to the others. The other people were leaving as well, and I was beginning to feel tired.

"Well, since you and Superboy don't have a home yet, why don't you two stay at my place?" Kid Flash requested. I thought about it for a moment. I didn't see any problem with sleeping at his house. Plus, I needed some rest anyway. I nodded in agreement.

"So we're decided?" Robin asked. We all agreed, and began to go our separate ways. I followed Kid Flash as I reflected on the day's events.

 _Sure beats still being frozen in that pod,_ I thought as I jumped and glided through the streets, following in Kid Flash and Superboy's tracks.

* * *

 **A/N: I actually wrote this late last night, so I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors.**

 **The next chapter will be kind of like a "filler" chapter. Although it does have some story and ties into the main plot, it's more character-driven than plot driven.**

 **Reviews, followers, and favorites are always welcome.**

 **I still don't own anything related to Young Justice or DC.**


	4. Chapter 4

I ended up sleeping on the couch that night. Which was strange to me. It was a couch, but it could also be used as a bed...but it was still called a couch…

Kid Flash's mother seemed nice. She was a little freaked out at first and she gave me a weird look, but Superboy and I were grateful to her for letting us stay here until the three days were up. Kid Flash explained the whole thing to his parents and soon it was smoothed over.

I also learned that Kid Flash's real name was Wally. That was also strange. Why did he have two names? Did he have two different lives? He didn't act any differently than when he was in costume. He put out some spare blankets and a pillow on the couch-bed for me, while Superboy had his bed and he slept in a bag. Well, not really a bag, but it looked like one.

I fell asleep quickly. The next morning, I woke up on my stomach, with just about every muscle in my body sore from so much physical activity the night before. I groaned from the pain and rolled on my side. My wings stuck out from underneath the blankets so I just pushed the sheets onto the floor.

I sat up, about half-awake now, to find Superboy and Kid Flash watching something on a colored box. Stretching my wings to feel how sore they were, I asked Kid Flash what that thing was.

"It's called a TV, and it's one of the greatest inventions known to man. Y'know, besides pizza and video games." I didn't know what those were either. I watched as videos played on the TV box, but soon I was growing bored. I wanted to do something besides sit here for three days cooped up inside a house.

I walked around, ate a little bit, changed into some of Kid Flash's mother's clothes that were a little too big for me, and sat back down in front of the TV box again.

Time passed slowly. I was aware of every hour, every minute, every second even, that passed while I stayed in the house. I ate, slept, went to the bathroom, and watched the TV box.

That is, until Kid Flash's mother forced us to get off the couch. She said she was kicking us out to go do something, and I jumped up, excited.

"Oh, can I come?" I asked eagerly as Kid Flash decided we should go to the mall to get some new clothes. I didn't know what a mall was, but I was excited to learn.

"Uh, actually Hawkey, maybe you should stay here. I'll just...bring you back some stuff, okay?" Kid Flash said. My mood dropped.

"Oh. Alright then. Have fun, you two." I said, walking into the kitchen, sitting down at the table. Now what was I supposed to do? Sit and wait? I've already done that for two whole days!

I heard Kid Flash's mother walking in from the hallway, so I figured if I was going to live with other people like this, I was going to have to know about stuff.

"Miss Kid Flash?" I asked, leaning back on the chair so she could see me.

"Oh, dear, call me Mrs. Mary West." She answered with a slight chuckle. I shut my mouth, then opened it again.

"Mrs. Mary West, can you tell me what things are?" I asked, completely serious.

She stuck her head out from the hallway entrance. "What kind of things?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, things. Like…" I scanned the room, looking for something I didn't know the name of.

"That water bowl, there." I pointed to a square bowl built into the counter, with handles and a nozzle that made water come out from it.

"That's called a sink, dear." She answered. I smiled at her.

"And what's that?" I pointed to a plant that grew inside the house, with colorful leaves on the end of it.

"That's a lily flower."

"And that?" I pointed again.

"That's a towel rack."

And that?"

"Those are the cupboards."

"What's that?"

"That's the couch. You know that already."

"I know, but it can also be a bed." I turned to look at her. She sighed.

"Yes, it can be a bed."

"Then why call it a couch?" I asked, confused again.

"Because that's just...what it's called." She wiped her hair from her face with a hand, turning back down the hallway, leaving me alone again.

I didn't like being alone. It made me feel like I was back in Cadmus, even though I clearly wasn't. I had been alone there, too.

But now I had friends in Robin and Kid Flash and Aqualad. I had a clone brother in Superboy. I had at least a temporary home. I had Hawkman and Hawkwoman. I wasn't alone anymore.

 _I wonder what they think of me,_ I thought about the Hawks again. Last night I had wondered of nothing else, and my dreams were of flying alongside them.

I had wanted to be with them. To fly with them. To live with them like I was living with Kid Flash right now. It was weird, but I had wanted us to become a family, a family of Hawks. I wondered if they wanted the same thing.

Kid Flash and Superboy returned a little while after that. I tried calling Superboy my " clone brother" to see what he would think about that, but he just glared at me, so I stopped trying. Kid Flash held up a bag of clothes they had brought home, and I took it and looked inside.

There was a dark green shirt and some blue jeans for me, lots of black shirts for Superboy, and a plaid shirt for Kid Flash.

I took my clothes in hand and went to the bathroom to change. The white shirt and pants that I had worn for the last few days were cut and torn and dirty, and I peeled them off of my body and switched them out for the new clothes.

The green shirt had no back, which made it easier to fit, since I didn't have to worry about my wings getting in the way. The pants were still a little too big for me, but they came with a belt and I tightened it until they fit.

I looked in the mirror for perhaps the first time in my life, and I was shocked at what I saw.

That wasn't me, it couldn't be. I didn't have that messy mop of light brown hair, my hair was dark brown, like my wings. I always thought my eyes were grey, and I was surprised to find them a dull shade of green instead.

I looked down at the counter. I saw a hairbrush, and I decided I should at least try to brush my hair out. It had been put into a braid that reached my shoulders for as long as I could remember, so it was a real struggle getting it to straighten out.

Eventually, I succeeded. I brushed the tangles out, and, feeling more confident about myself now that I had cleaned up a bit, I went back to see what Kid Flash and Superboy were up to.

As I walked back into the kitchen, Kid Flash was telling about what had happened at the mall that day. I was disappointed that I had missed out on such an adventure, but maybe it was for the best. Hawkwoman did tell me to not get into any trouble, so I guess staying at home was the best way to do that.

"Oh yeah, Superman and the Flash were there, too! Ah, you should've been there, Hawkey. It was sweet!" He told me as I sat down. He raised an eyebrow at my new appearance, but didn't say anything about it. Instead he told me that Batman has made his decision.

"His decision about what?" I asked.

"Y'know, the whole 'team' thing." He did air quotes at the word "team." Were we a team? We did work well together. And we worked together to take down Desmond. So yeah, I would say we were a team.

"Hey, Superboy, what do you think about the whole 'team' thing?" I mimicked Kid Flash's air quotes. He shrugged.

"Doesn't really matter," he replied, then fell silent. I frowned. It was hard to get him to say a full sentence, but I was determined to bring in out of his shell.

That evening I realized Kid Flash had also bought me and Superboy a pair of sleeping clothes, called "pajamas." Mine did have a back, unlike my green shirt, had the Flash logo all over them, but I was just happy to have some more clothes.

That night I dreamt of flying again.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of an alarm ringing. I didn't know who was ringing it, but I wanted them to stop and let me sleep.

Kid Flash appeared in front of me, and I jumped in surprise.

"Wake up, Hawkey! Today's the day!" He said excitedly.

"What's today, again?" I was still half-asleep, so I heard about every other word. I rubbed my eyes and sat up on the couch-bed.

"Batman's made his decision, remember? So get up and move it!" He zoomed around the house, moving too fast for my eyes to see. I still had no idea how he could be so energetic so early in the morning. I swung my legs over the side of the couch-bed, stretching as everything was still pretty sore.

Soon I did get up, eat something, and get dressed, this time in a dark red shirt that also had no back and my jeans. Kid Flash also bought me some black sneakers yesterday that I didn't try on, but they fit nicely. After a little while all three of us were ready to go.

Around that time a bell rang in the house. I looked around for the bell, but found none. Kid Flash headed for the door and opened it, revealing the red Flash man from a few nights ago.

"Are you two-" he started, then stopped when he saw me.

"Umm, are you _three_ ready to go?" He corrected himself, clearing his throat. We all nodded.

"We're not going to be running there, though." The Flash Man explained, to Kid Flash's disappointment. "We'll catch the nearest Zeta tube to Mount Justice."

"Wait, what a Zeta tube? And what's Mount Justice?" I asked as we walked out the door, saying our goodbyes to Mrs. and Mr. Kid Flash beforehand.

"A zeta tube's like a teleporter. You walk through in one place and come out another." The Flash Man demonstrated somewhat with his arms. I nodded, understanding.

"Mount Justice was the League's first headquarters before the Hall of Justice was built." He answered, keeping at a walking pace so that Superboy and I could follow. "Batman'll probably tell you more about it later."

As we walked, the Flash Man in costume and the rest of us wearing regular clothes, I kept on getting strange looks like the one Mrs. Kid Flash gave me the first time I showed up at her door.

"Why is everyone looking at me like that?" I whispered to Superboy, who was the closest to me.

"Probably because you have giant wings sticking out of your back." He answered gruffly. I took another look at the people walking down the street. None of them had any wings.

Of course, I didn't think _everyone_ had wings, I just figured it was like some people having blonde hair and others having black hair. Some people had wings, and some didn't. But now I saw that that wasn't the case. I was the only one who had wings here. It made me feel ashamed and embarrassed. I tucked my wings in as close to my body as I could and hoped no one else noticed.

Finally, we came across a large white building with the sign "STAR Labs" in front. We walked through the pristine hallways, looking almost nothing like Cadmus's except that they were hallways.

I looked up at the windows and pictures put on the walls, soaking in the sunlight. I wasn't watching where I was going, and I didn't know someone was coming in the opposite direction until they ran into me.

We collided, both of us being thrown to the ground by the impact. Papers scattered everywhere as the figure hurriedly apologized and began scooping the papers back into a folder.

I began to help, and I saw that the person was a boy about my age. Well, biologically. I don't know long I've been alive year-wise. But I felt about fifteen.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized to him, handing him the last stack of papers.

"Nah, it's not your fault. I should've been paying more attention," he took the papers as I looked up to meet a pair of steel-grey eyes.

"Uh, well...thank you," he said after a moment. "For helping me, I mean. I-I really should get back to the lab now," he stood up and offered me a hand.

I took it, and I stood as well. He started walking away, but as I watched him with a growing curiosity, he stopped and turned back to me.

"By the way, what's your name?" He asked.

"Hawkgirl," I replied. He looked confused for a moment. "What's yours?" I asked him.

"Xavier."

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Xavier," I waved goodbye and turned around to see Superboy still standing there, waiting for me to follow.

"What was that all about?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I think I just made a new friend." I heard him make a growling-sound, but he didn't say anything else.

We walked to a darker room than the hallway, with lots of machinery and two big tube-looking things. I guessed those were the Zeta beams. Flash Man and Kid Flash were still here, waiting for the two of us. Flash Man raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on our lateness. He said he could only authorize on at a time, and Kid Flash offered to go first, since he'd traveled by Zeta tube before. I didn't object.

As a voice called out Flash and Kid Flash, a yellow and white light engulfed Kid Flash, and then he was gone. Just like that.

My eyes widened in surprise. I remembered Flash's explanation of Zeta tubes, so Kid Flash was most likely at Mount Justice by now.

Then it was Superboy's turn. He hardly reacted when the voice called his name, and then he disappeared as well.

And now it was my turn.

I had survived Cadmus training. I had fought alien-things like it was nothing. I had even battled a giant Desmond-monster.

But now, standing in front of this Zeta tube, I was scared.

"Don't be nervous, Hawkgirl. It's just like feeling a breeze on your face." Flash consoled from the computer desk. Taking a deep breath, I stood on the platform that Kid Flash and Superboy had stood on before me.

The voice called out Flash's name, and then mine. My heart beat faster and my stomach started churning as the bright light surrounded me. I shut my eyes, preparing for the worst…

And then I was standing there. I opened my eyes to see that I was indeed in a different place than before. I stepped out, a little bit shaky from the Zeta tube.

"Hey, Hawkgirl! First time on the Zeta tubes?" Robin asked. I took in a deep breath and nodded.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." He pat me on the back in between my wings.

I looked forward to see Kid Flash and Superboy already there, along with Robin and Aqualad. I smiled and waved at them before taking my place in line with them as Batman explained our position.

"This Cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We're calling it into service again. Since you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms." I nodded, not completely understanding, but not left in the dark either.

"Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor; Black Canary is in charge of training. _I_ will deploy you on missions." I turned to see a red robot-looking figure wearing a blue cape, and the blonde woman with a blue jacket and black suit from before as Batman said their names.

"Real missions?" Robin asked. _What's the difference?_ I thought.

"Yes, but covert." Batman answered. He was a bit like Superboy in that he only gave partial sentence answers.

"The League'll still handle the obvious stuff. There's a reason why we have these big targets on our chests." The Flash spoke up beside Kid Flash, pointing to his chest. _Oh, so_ that's _what they're for…_

"But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter." The king person spoke next. "Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly."

"This six of you will be that team." Batman finished. _Wait a minute,_ I thought, looking over and counting the number of people here.

"Wait, six?" Robin voiced my thoughts out loud. We all turned as a green-skinned man covered with a blue cloak -what is it with the League and blue clothes?- and another green-skinned person, this time a girl.

"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian." Batman explained as she waved and said hi. I smiled.

"I'm Kid Flash," the boy in question introduced himself. "That's Robin, Aqualad, Hawkgirl, it's cool if you forget their names." He pointed each of us out. I directed a scowl towards him. _I can introduce myself, thank you very much._ I can speak.

"I'm honored to be included," Miss Martian spoke. I walked over with everyone except Superboy to introduce myself properly.

"Hey, Superboy, come meet Miss M," Robin called out. My clone brother obliged as he stood within our circle.

And then Miss Martian's shirt changed from a white and red to black and red. _Whoa, I don't know what kind of shirt she has, but I want one._

"I like your t-shirt," she said after the change was complete. Robin and Kid Flash grouped around him, while Aqualad stayed out.

"Today's the day," he stated.

"It sure is," I agreed. Today was the day I made two new friends, joined a team, and became a hero. Today was the day my life changed for the better.

* * *

 **A/N: So, there you have it! Hawkgirl is officially part of Young Justice. The next chapter will focus a little bit more on the Hawks, so stay tuned for that!**

 **Reviews, followers and favorites are welcome as always.**

 **I don't own anything here except my character Hawkgirl.**


	5. Chapter 5

The new team had gathered around Miss Martian talking and chatting for awhile now, but it was Batman that pulled me aside first.

"I believe you know Hawkman," he said, directing my attention to the winged man in question. I nodded.

"Then I'll let you two get acquainted." He said, and then he was gone. Like, disappeared from the room entirely. I looked around for a minute, wondering what had happened, but Hawkman had cleared his threat and brought my attention back to him.

"You seem to be...settling in well," he started, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. I nodded again.

"It's nice in the Flash's City," I replied, feeling a bit awkward just standing here. I looked over at my friends, who were laughing about something I didn't know. Maybe they were laughing about me…

"Well, that's nice," Hawkman's words reached my ears and I once again struggled to pay attention to the bird man.

"Do you think that we can move there?" I asked, a hopeful smile growing on my face. Hawkman was silent for a second.

"'We'?" He asked for clarification.

"You know, me, you, and Hawkwoman," I explained, then added, "as a...a family."

That seemed to surprise him. I wondered what I was doing wrong to make him act like he didn't want to be around me. Did I say something wrong? Do something wrong? Or was it just because I was a clone, created by Cadmus? That didn't seem fair, I hadn't done anything to him and yet he treats me like a traitor.

"Well, we can um, we'll work something out." He turned away and excused himself, heading for the Zeta tubes. Now I was starting to get frustrated.

"What have I done wrong?!" I shouted at him, balling my fists. He stopped walking and the room suddenly got deathly quiet, but I was too angry at him to care at the moment.

"Why do you treat me like a...a bad guy? Why don't you want anything to do with me? Am I not good enough for you? Is there something wrong with me?" All of my questions from earlier came flooding out in one breath. I was legitimately hurt now, and still Hawkman just stood there, silently, his back to me.

And then he faced me. His expression behind the helmet was unreadable. I was afraid I had accidentally crossed a line somewhere.

I steeled myself, fighting the instinct to run as Hawkman drew closer. He raised his gauntlet-clad hand like before, at the Cadmus remains, only this time he did something different.

He pulled me into a hug.

It was an unsure, awkward hug, but a hug nonetheless. I returned it after the shock from the action had worn off.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. All of The anger had washed Seat at that moment, and tears began welling up in my eyes. I shut them to prevent the tears from falling. And I knew why he had acted so defensive now.

I was a clone. Born from DNA stolen from him, from them. Grown in a lab beneath their very noses, shielded from their eyes. And then I was brought into the light. Cadmus's secrets revealed, and they rejected me because I was a part of the bad guys. But now I wasn't. I was good, and I was going to stay that way.

I broke the hug first. I stepped back, wiping my face with my hands. Hawkman was still frozen standing there. I'm not sure even he knew what he had just done.

"Thank you," I stage-whispered, and I could've sworn I saw a brief smile cross his face before it returned to his normal scowl. He did give me a nod, which was also progress, I guess.

"Training starts at seven o'clock, sharp at the Hall of Justice. Don't be late."

And with that, he turned and walked into the Zeta tube, disappearing in a flash of golden light. I turned back to the new team, wanting to get back to the conversations we were having before.

Everyone was looking at me now. Most of them were grinning, but Superboy was wearing the meanest-looking scowl I ever saw. He didn't try to hide it in the slightest. And then I remembered that he was a clone, too. Of Superman.

"Superboy…" I began, not quite sure how to finish. He turned away from me and didn't speak.

We didn't speak for the rest of the day.

I thought it was worrying, seeing as how he seemed like he was warming up to me yesterday and this morning.

Others tried to talk to me, but I didn't feel like making small talk. I just went to my room and sat on my bed.

It was pretty empty, as I had nothing but Kid Flash's gift clothes and my white tunic and pants from Cadmus. I didn't even know why I brought them here. Memories, I guess.

I went to bed early, wanting to get a full night's rest for tomorrow. Robin showed me how to set my alarm clock to wake me up tomorrow morning, so I laid down and tried to go to sleep.

Except that I couldn't. I kept thinking about Hawkman, about Superboy. It wasn't my fault that Superman hadn't welcomed him with open arms. I didn't decide his actions.

 _Maybe in a few days it'll all blow over…_ I thought as I descended into a night of fitful sleep.

The sound of my alarm woke me up the next morning. I glanced at the clock. 6:30. I needed to get up.

Not to my surprise, Kid Flash was already up snacking on something.

"Hey Kid Flash," I greeted with a yawn.

"I told you, call me Wally when I'm off-duty," he was sitting on the couch in front of the big TV box. He folded his hands behind his head and propped his feet up on the small table.

"Oh, sorry." I apologized, cleared my throat, and tried again. "Hey _Wally."_

"That's great Hawkey, but next time, easy on the sarcasm." He said, putting another handful of whatever he was eating into his mouth and chewed loudly.

I returned to my room with a bowl of cereal and ate it sitting on my bed. After that I got dressed. I didn't really have anything else, so I chose the dark green shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, making sure it didn't get in the way of my wings, and set off towards the Zeta tubes. Robin told me last night that the Hall of Justice was in Washington D.C., so I put that into the floating computer keyboard as the voice said my name and number.

 **Hawkgirl B05**

After I stepped off the platform, I realized I had just used the Zeta tubes by myself. I felt proud of myself for doing that.

Hawkwoman was already standing near the platform, and she motioned with her wing to follow. I did.

Neither of us said a word to each other. I was still trying to wake up, and Hawkwoman I was sure had her reasons.

We came up to a place where people were gathering and taking photos. I looked up at the marble building, reading the words engraved on the sides. Hall of Justice.

People tended to notice us right away, but I followed Hawkwoman's lead in ignoring the people that wanted picture and asked questions. I didn't feel like answering questions at the time.

She stopped at a large metal door, where a beam scanned her and the doors opened. I followed in after her, still not speaking.

Hawkwoman led me down multiple other hallways, each looking about the same so I got lost pretty easily. The woman's stride was longer than mine so I had to struggle to keep up.

Finally, we came into a large room, where Hawkman was waiting already. He had his arms crossed like always, and Hawkwoman joined him by his side, the two Leaguers facing me.

"Batman gave us the authority for you to train with us," Hawkman began, his tone serious and not at all friendly.

"We'll teach you how to fight, both in the air and on the ground." Hawkwoman continued. I nodded, understanding.

"First, we'll work on strength." Hawkman stepped forward, his arms lowering. "You need to build muscle mass in your wings so you can use them more efficiently." He demonstrated by stretching his large brown wings and taking off up to the tall ceiling, then floated back down. I wished I could do that.

My wings stretched out at the display, allowing the two Hawks a better look at them. They were still small and weak, but since my liberation from Cadmus I had stretched them out more and they had been less sore during the past few days.

"I'll teach you both hand-to-hand combat as well as armed," Hawkwoman explained her role, brandishing her dangerous-looking mace in one hand. I wanted a mace like that.

The Hawks exchanged a brief look, before Hawkman spoke again. "We'll start slow, but don't expect to take it easy. Fitness is a lifestyle, not a hobby. In addition to our training you'll also have to keep up your work with the team and training with Black Canary as well." I suddenly felt overwhelmed with all of this responsibility thrust on my shoulders, but I nodded nonetheless.

And with that, training with the Hawks had begun.

We started with stretches to loosen my muscles. After I was tired from that, Hawkwoman took the lead to teach hand-to-hand.

"First, let's see what you already know," she said, stepping into a fighting stance. I instinctively mirrored her, the posture strangely not feeling strange or awkward, but natural. I lowered my shoulders, ready for her attack.

She came on fast. Too fast for me to dodge. I brought up a hand to block her fist, but she anticipated that and sent her other fist to my face. My head moved before I told it to, ducking down to avoid her attack.

I felt something on my leg and suddenly I was down on the ground, my wings pressing uncomfortably into my back.

"You fought well, but neglected to track all of my movements, allowing me to surprise you. You need to be able to focus on more than one thing at a time in combat." She explained as I got up. "Again."

We repeated the exercise over and over, and every time I was kicked down. But I was learning and adapting, which Hawkwoman noticed.

"You're adapting, good," she threw another punch, which I dodged. "But so am I."

With that, she grabbed my wrist and forced it between my shoulder blades, which made my bad shoulder explode in pain. I cried out as she released my hand.

"You favor your left hand too much. Keep each side in check as you fight." I was starting to get annoyed, while she remained cold and professional facing me. _Well exc-use me for being injured in the line of duty!_

The sparring session went on for about thirty more minutes before we had a break. I sat down on a bench, drinking from a water bottle and panting heavily. And I still had to build my wing strength up.

After a few more minutes. Hawkwoman had the gym, her work done, as Hawkman took over training me to use my wings.

He was even stricter than Hawkwoman.

I pumped my wings up and down, trying to put the power into my downstroke like he instructed, and yet I still could get barely a foot off the ground.

I collapsed on the ground, thoroughly exhausted. Hawkman stood above me like a mountain, his hard gaze not making me feel any better about my situation.

"Again," he commanded. I struggled to get back up, every limb shaking like leaves in the wind. "Synchronize your wingbeats to get more power from your downstroke."

I tried to follow his instructions, and managed to get about a foot and a half off the ground. I stopped trying to fly, and crashed on the ground. I tried to get up again, but my arms gave way and I stayed there, panting and sweating on the floor.

I heard Hawkman breathe out a long sigh. "That's enough for today. We'll start again tomorrow, same time." And then I heard him walking away while I still lay there, tears escaping from my eyes and mixing with my sweat.

Eventually I had laid there long enough for some strength to return, and I managed to stand with every muscle in my body burning. I wasn't used to this much physical activity, at least not yet. I walked out the door and realized that I was lost within the Hall of Justice.

 _Well, this is it,_ I thought with despair as I fell to the floor, barely propped up on my elbows. My throat was on fire as I tried to take in air.

I heard a voice to my left. Were they a part of the Justice League? I couldn't see. I was rolled on my back, my wings being moved so that I can lay comfortably, and I looked up at the face of Xavier.

"Wha…?" What was he doing here?

"It's okay, my uncle's on his way. He'll take care of you," he consoled. But how could his uncle help?

"Whoa," I heard him say, and felt something press against my feathers. My wing twitched, unused to the touch. "Sorry…" Xavier pulled his hand back.

I heard the footsteps of another person before they came into my line of sight. He was older than Xavier, but he had the same messy dirty blonde hair.

I groaned in pain as my tired body was lifted off the floor and carried to who knows where. I heard words, but I couldn't make them out.

 _Oh no, I'm not passing out again!_ I willed myself to stay awake. I was laid carefully onto a bed. I felt a prick in my arm and turned my head to see a silver needle sticking out of my arm. I started to freak out at the sight.

"Hey, hey, it's alright, you're safe now," Xavier's voice spoke beside me as he held me down.

"You're really lucky we were there at the time," I guessed the voice was Xavier's uncle. I still had very little idea of what was going on.

I knew I was now in a bed, with a curtain separating my place from another. There were white walls, one had a TV box on the side while the wall to my right had a window.

I turned my head to the other side to see Xavier and his uncle watching over me. Xavier's uncle put his hand lightly on my good shoulder.

"You'll be okay, just rest now," he instructed in a soft tone. I nodded slowly, and watched as the two left through the door.

My breathing steadied as I felt my strength returning. I wasn't really in the mood to walk back to the Zeta tube and explain my training day with the team and Batman, however, so I stayed in the bed.

Soon, my mind drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: I really, really, really debated on whether or not to write this in the Hawks' points of view. But, I had a first-person theme going on, so I stuck with that. I hope you enjoyed it, though!**

 **TBH I think the Hawks are some of the most underrated characters in the Justice League.**

 **As always, reviews, followers, and favorites are more than appreciated.**

 **Still don't own anything Young Justice or DC-related.**


	6. Chapter 6

I awoke to voices. I heard three, although I didn't recognize them.

I opened my eyes, not knowing for a second where I was. Panic seized me as I tried to get up from my resting place.

I saw the team surrounding me. All of them wore matching concerned expressions.

 _What...what had happened?_

I tried to move, and then my body responded my shooting spikes of pain through my muscles.

"Good, you're awake." A deep voice said near me. I looked to the right and saw Batman hovering above me.

"How...long had I…?" I tried to speak, but my throat hurt and my voice cracked.

"Two days." He answered, his expression unreadable. But then again, that was his usual expression. _Two days? Two whole days since…_

I looked back at the crowd of people. There was a distinct lack of winged people among them. Good. I didn't really feel like talking with them anyway.

"Superboy was the one to find you missing," Robin explained, which surprised me. I thought Superboy still hated me. _Did he?_

I looked for him, but didn't see his face. My heart sank a little in my chest. I had wanted to reconcile with him, but it looked like that would have to wait.

"So, how you feeling? Better?" Robin asked. I nodded.

"Better," I replied. But I was still tired. I wanted to rest some more. Batman led the team out of my room, allowing me some more time to rest up.

I closed my eyes and almost immediately fell asleep again.

I didn't dream that time. At least, I don't remember if I did or not. When I awoke again it was late; the window was dark. I tried moving my arm and found that I couldn't. It was like I was glued to the bed. my eyes could still move, though.

"...we may have overestimated her strength," I heard a voice, but the curtain was drawn and I couldn't see who it was. It sounded like Batman.

"Yes," I heard Hawkman's voice as well. "It seems like her time in Cadmus had damaged her body."

"And still, she is growing in her abilities." Hawkwoman's voice spoke next. There was a pause.

"We'll let her rest for now," Batman spoke again. "And until she is fully well again, _I_ will keep an eye on her."

 _Wait, so now_ Batman _was going to look after me?_ Well, I couldn't really complain. Behind the dark mask and cold air around him, he seemed nice. Much nicer than Hawkman, that's for sure.

A door opened. Footsteps retreated from the room. I slept again.

The next day, I returned back to Mount Justice. Batman told me about the things I had accidentally overheard the previous night.

I felt better. I could stand and walk again, but my wings had been more damaged and I couldn't even try to fly without them hurting.

"I've asked Dr. Richards to stay here and monitor your health. Every day you will go to the medical room and check in with him." Batman explained as a man stepped forward.

It was Xavier's uncle, the one who helped me before. I didn't usually like scientists or doctors, but he was an exception. I smiled.

"Follow me, please," he walked ahead of me, and I obeyed. The medical room was easier to get to than the room in the Hall of Justice, just a left turn and then three doors down.

He told me to sit on a mat on a table. He said he was going to give me a "check-up."

I didn't like check-ups.

He shined a light in my eyes, stuck something in my ears and put a stick down my throat. But soon it was over.

I stepped down from the mat-table. He said I could go, and I exited the room. I found myself walking back towards the kitchen and living room.

The team was already there. They all looked back at me, and I felt a little bit awkward standing there.

"Well?" Kid-Wally- was the first to speak. "You good to go?" _Go? Go where? On a mission? Were we getting an assignment?_

I nodded. "But where are we going?" I asked. The team laughed a little. I was still confused, but I smiled as the tension in the room disappeared.

There was one person that didn't laugh, though. I saw Superboy leaning against the wall opposite of me, looked at the ground.

I dared to walk up to him. "Superboy?" I asked. He didn't reply.

"Superboy, please, talk to me." I pleaded. I didn't know what else to do or say.

"...I'm glad you're okay," he finally responded, his voice a whisper. He turned to the side and walked out the door. _Well, it's a start._

The next two weeks passed quickly and slowly at the same time. I spend my time either in front of the TV box with various team members telling me about the videos, in my room, or in the medical room.

The team flowed in and out of Mount Justice. Robin and Wally were the two of the members who were gone most of the time, and Miss Martian occasionally visited her uncle Martian Manhunter.

Aqualad sometimes went to Atlantis as well to help Aquaman, as the king person was called. I asked him about it once, and he said it was an underwater city filled with people like him that had gills on their necks and webbed hands. I wanted to come with him to see Atlantis. It sounded fun.

Superboy and I were often left alone in the mountain. He had barely spoken to me since I had come back from the Hall of Justice, but at least he was talking again.

"Hey, clone brother," I greeted one day, as I walked into the kitchen. He huffed in reply, watching something on the TV box.

"What are you watching?" I sat down on the couch some distance away from him.

"Nature documentary."

I watched alongside him. It was about an animal called a lion. I knew what those were called, but not a lot about them.

They turned out to be more interesting than I expected. They lived in family units called "prides," and the females did most of the hunting.

Was that how humans worked as well? They did seem to live in family groups.

But soon I was getting tired. Grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter, I retired to my room. I usually didn't eat much, which Batman told me not to do, but I couldn't seem to shake the habit.

I went to the medical room and had my daily check-up. I decided to ask Xavier's uncle a few questions about him I had.

"Dr. Richards?" I started. He looked up from his clipboard, raising an eyebrow.

"Why were you and Xavier in the Hall of Justice?"

He sighed and put the clipboard down. "I'm one of STAR Labs top medical researchers." I didn't know what that meant, but I nodded anyway.

"The scientists there asked me to come and do a routine survey of their medical equipment, and I thought it'd be a nice learning opportunity for Xavier as well. It was by we passed by you in that hallway." He explained. I felt better now.

"Any more questions?"

I nodded in answer, then asked, "Where's Xavier now?" I'm pretty sure I would have spotted him by now if he was in the mountain with the doctor.

"He's with his family." Dr. Richards answered, then continued with the check-up. I was glad Xavier was okay.

That night I dreamt something different than flying. I was falling instead.

 _I saw the ground coming up at me. I couldn't move. I braced myself, but the impact never came. I opened my eyes, and suddenly I was standing on a street I had never seen before._

 _There was a little girl there, kicking around a ball on the empty, worn down road. I tried to reach out to her, but I found that I couldn't move._

 _There was a house beside the road. I could only move my eyes, but it looked small and wooden._

 _Then it was night. The girl was still outside, but now she looked older. She was sitting on the porch, her brown hair blocking me from seeing her expression._

 _But I then heard a sound. She was crying._

 _The scene changed again. The girl was no longer there. An older woman with dark grey hair was sitting where the young girl once sat. She was holding something. It looked like a picture frame._

 _Then I was beside her. The picture was of a woman with black hair and a girl hugging the woman from behind, both of them smiling._

 _My eyes widened at the picture._

 _That girl…_

 _She looked like me._

I woke up in a cold sweat. Most of the dream slipped from my grasp, but that picture still burned in my memory.

I don't think I could ever forget it.

I decided not to tell the team, at least not for now. They'd think I was crazy for seeing some random people and a girl that looked like me in a dream.

I rolled over on my stomach and fell back into a light sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: I was actually kind of stuck on what to write for this chapter. I'm not usually one to plan out what happens beforehand, so I was kind of at a loss when it came to this.**

 **The next two chapters will be during "Welcome to Happy Harbor."**

 **Review, followers, and favorites are always welcome.**


	7. Chapter 7

A couple of days later I woke up late. I guessed Batman was still letting me rest after the training day disaster.

I found my way to the kitchen, grabbing another apple before heading back to my room to change.

I had my red shirt on today, and afterwards I found the team gathered around a floating computer in the main room.

"Hey guys. What's going on?" I asked, taking a bit out of the apple.

"We're going to see if Red Tornado has a mission for us," Miss Martian explained.

About that time, the computer voice announced the arrival of Robin and Kid Flash via Zeta tube.

"Did you ask him?"

What did he say?" They both ran up to meet us.

"He's arriving now," Aqualad said. _Wait, who's arriving?_

"Then what are we waiting for?" Wally exclaimed excitedly and shot out of the room.

"Who are we going to see?" I asked. I guess confusion was my normal mood on this team now.

"Red Tornado; weren't you listening?" Superboy answered, giving me a hard stare. I tried to meet his eyes, but ducked my head down and followed the others out and throwing my half-eaten apple in the trash can.

We slowed to a walk as the ceiling lowered in the garage of the mountain side. Red Tornado was descending in a...well, a red tornado.

"Red Tornado!" Wally greeted as the robot touched down, waving.

"Greetings. Is there a reason you intercept me outside of the Cave?" The mechanical voice responded.

"We were hoping you had a mission for us." Aqualad said.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility."

"But it's been over a week and nothing-" Robin spoke up.

"You will be tested soon enough." Red Tornado stopped him with a hand. _Tested? What did that mean?_

"For the time being, simply enjoy each other's company."

"But we've been doing that for the past few days now!" I voiced my thoughts. Even though I was weak from Cadmus and weaker still from training, I still had fight in me and I was growing restless. I needed some action.

"This team is not a social club." Aqualad said.

"No, but I am told that social interaction is an important team-building exercise." Red Tornado answered. I was getting annoyed with that robot. I didn't like how he was so...mechanical. Everything we said had a deadpan answer, and I didn't like it.

"Perhaps you can keep busy by familiarizing yourself with the Cave." And with that, the robot simply walked out of the conversation.

"What does he think I've been doing for the past week?" I asked under my breath.

"Does he think we're falling for this?" Robin asked Wally.

"Oh, I'll find out." Miss Martian said. _Wait, how can you do that?_

She looked like she was concentrating for a moment, then sighed.

"I'm sorry, I forgot he was a machine. Inorganic. I can't read his mind." _Wait, she can read minds?! And no one ever told me this?!_

"Nice try though." Wally stepped up beside her, leaning in. "So, you know what I'm thinking right now?"

"We all know what you're thinking right now," Robin hit him lightly on the back. _I don't,_ I thought about his comment. _Wait a minute…_

"And now we tour the clubhouse." Aqualad said with a hint of disdain in his voice. _Wait, clubhouse? Oh, right, the Cave._

"Well, Superboy, Hawkgirl, and I live here, maybe we can play tour guides." Miss Martian suggested.

"Are you kidding? I get lost when I go to my room sometimes." I was actually not making that up. Everyone then turned to Superboy.

"Don't look at me," he said.

"We won't, a private tour sounds much more fun." Wally leaned in towards Miss Martian again. _Wait...boy plus girl...alone…_ I did the math and came to the conclusion that Wally liked Miss Martian. What was the word again? Crush? Yeah, I think that was it.

"Team-building. We'll all go." Aqualad's voice broke through my thoughts. But I felt proud of myself now that I figured Wally out. I felt like a part of an inside joke now.

We all followed Miss Martian through the door back into the Cave. "So, this would be our front door…"

"...and this would be the back." She led us straight to the other side of the mountain. I saw blue water, lots of it. I can't remember the last time I saw something like that. Maybe never.

"The Cave is actually the entire mountain," she explained, leading us back through the mountain.

"It was hollowed out and reinforced by Superman and Green Lantern in the early days of the League." Wally explained further. I knew who Superman was, but I didn't recognize the second hero. They sounded cool, though.

"Then why abandon it for the Hall of Justice?" Superboy asked.

"The Cave's secret location was...compromised." Aqualad answered.

"Wait, so the bad guys know we're here? And we're just staying here like sitting ducks?!" I started to panic a little bit. I had thought this place was one of the safest places on earth, and now they're telling me that the bad guys knew about Mount Justice already?

"The bad guys know we know they know about the place so they'd never think to look here." Robin somehow thought that his explanation would make sense and calm me down.

"Uh, he means that we're hiding in plain sight." Wally spoke up, translating. His explanation did calm me down.

"Oh, that makes more sense," I replied.

"I smell smoke," Superboy spoke again.

Miss Martian gasped. "My cookies!" She flew -not ran, _flew_ \- through the hallways and into the kitchen. _I want cookies!_ I thought as I ran with the others, gaining a little more speed with my wings, which had grown a little bit over the past few days.

In the kitchen, Miss Martian levitated a pan of black cookies. _Oh, too bad._

"I was trying out Grammy Jones' recipe from episode seventeen of..heh, nevermind." Miss Martian explained, then backtracked. But I was still curious. An episode is part is a show on the TV box, and I wanted to know what show it was. At least they baked cookies on it.

"I bet they'd've tasted great," Robin consoled. "He doesn't seem to mind," we all turned towards Wally, who was busy stuffing his mouth with a burnt cookie.

"I...have a serious metabolism." I didn't know what that meant.

"I'll...make more?" Miss Martian replied.

"It was sweet of you to make any." Aqualad spoke.

"Thanks, Aqualad."

"We're off duty. Call me Kaldur'ahm. Actually, my friends call me Kaldur." He introduced.

"I'm Wally," Kid Flash introduced to Miss Martian, since I already knew his real name. "See, I already trust you with my secret ID. Unlike Mr. Dark Glasses over here; Batman's forbidden the Boy Wonder from telling anyone his real name." Really? Why? Batman wasn't any bigger a hero than the Flash, and he let Wally tell us his identity. I figured it was more of a personal thing.

"Mine's no secret: it's M'gann M'orzz. But you can call me Megan. It's an Earth name, and I'm on Earth now." Miss Martian also introduced herself.

I knit my eyebrows together in confusion. "What is with heroes and secret names? Kid Flash and Miss Martian have two, and Aqualad has three! Why do you all have different names?" I spoke of my frustration. It made no sense to me. But everyone looked at me like I just lost my wings.

"Secret identities come with the job." Robin explained. "You don't want your friends or family knowing you risk your life fighting crime every day, so you act like a regular citizen around them and in public."

"Well, you all know my identity, and so does the League. I don't have any other family, so why do I have to pretend?" I wasn't calming down any.

"Think of it this way: if you had a family that didn't know you were Hawkgirl, and you went out and fought crime, would you want dangerous supervillains targeting your family, or anyone else that was close to you?" He offered a question.

I thought for a while, then lowered my head and shook it. "No, I wouldn't." It still made little sense to me, but now I could see why the others kept their real identities secret from the world.

I heard Superboy, who hadn't said a word since we ran to the kitchen, retreating.

He suddenly grabbed his head in pain. I worried that something bad had happened, and rushed over to his side.

"Get out of my head!" He shouted. I didn't know what he wasn't talking about until my head exploded in pain.

 _"What's wrong? I-I don't understand. Everyone on Mars communicates telepathically."_ I heard a voice in my head that wasn't my own. I grasped my head like Superboy had, as the voice inside felt familiar. But not friendly familiar, bad familiar. _Really_ bad familiar.

Before I knew it I was on my knees. _Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop,_ I pleaded, rocking slightly. I didn't like the voice.

"M'gann, stop." Aqua-Kaldur's voice shook the bad feeling out. I was glad. I looked up at Megan, who seemed surprised and hurt.

"Things are different on Earth. Here, your powers are an extreme invasion of privacy." He explained.

"Plus Cadmus's little psychic G-Gnomes left a bad taste in his brain." Wally explained. G-Gnomes? Is that was the small alien things were called? Or maybe it was the psychic alien-thing…

"I didn't mean to-" Megan tried to apologize.

"Just stay out." Superboy growled and stomped into the living room, where he sat on a couch. I would have consoled him, but right now I didn't want to just anger him further. He seemed to like my help the least, actually.

I realized I was still sitting on the floor as Robin lent a hand to help me up. I stood on slightly shaking legs and leaned against the counter.

"Hello Megan!" Megan exclaimed, tapping her forehead with her palm. "I know what we can do!" We all followed as she flew out of the room. I took one last glance at Superboy, who was still sitting on the couch.

Superboy came along anyway. I was glad too. Megan led us down to the hangar, where there was a small-ish red and blue blob waiting.

"It's my Martian Bio-Ship!" She said. It didn't look like much of a ship. At least, not the ones I knew of.

"Cute." Wally said. "Not very aerodynamic, but cute."

"It's at rest, silly, I'll wake it." She raised a hand, and the ship began to transform into, well, a ship. A cool-looking spaceship, that is.

It turned around on its own and a door opened to the inside. I didn't really know what to think about the ship.

"Well, are you coming?" Megan didn't seem fazed in the slightest. That made sense, at least. It was her ship.

We all followed her inside, where six seats appeared. Robin sat at the back left, Wally on the right back, Kaldur sat on the front to the right, Superboy in the middle, and I took the window seat to the left.

"Whoa," I breathes as seatbelts appeared and strapped me in.

"Red Tornado, please open the bay doors." Megan asked. The doors did indeed open, and the ship lifted into the air.

It was amazing. Looking out at the town from above, it made me feel like flying in my dreams.

"This is amazing," I exclaimed, looking with wonder down below. "So this is what it's like to fly…"

"Incredible!" Robin said behind me.

Wally sighed. "She sure is," he looked at Megan. I was confused again. "I mean the ship. Which, like all ships, is a she." He pointed down.

"Fast with his feet, not so much with his mouth." Robin said. I felt left out again. Wait, was this a part of the Wally-liking-Miss-Martian inside joke again? I seemed oblivious to the situation.

"He'll come around," Robin consoled Megan about Superboy. I felt bad for her, even though I freaked out too with her psychic powers.

"He doesn't seem to like me much," she replied.

"He doesn't seem to like anyone much," I said. He really did. Me and Megan were the two he seemed to hate the most, though, at least right now.

"You guys remember he has _super hearing,_ right?" Wally stage-whispered. I looked back at Superboy, but he didn't move.

"Hey, how about showing us some Martian shapeshifting?" Robin asked.

"Wait, shapeshifting? What's that?" I accidentally said aloud.

"Here, I'll show you." Megan responded. She stood from her chair as her clothes began to change until she looked like Robin. And then she spun around and changed into Kid Flash mid-turn.

"Is it wrong that I think I'm hot?" Wally asked, a weird expression on his face.

"Actually, it feels pretty nice in here," I responded. He _was_ talking about the temperature, right?

That earned me a stifled laugh from Robin. I turned in my seat and raised an eyebrow back at him.

"I'll explain back at the Cave," he leaned forward and whispered. He then turned back to Megan.

"Impressive, but you know you're not exactly gonna fool anyone with those." He complimented her, I think.

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder." She replied, sitting back down. _Wait what? ...oh yeah, anatomical changes._

"And, your clothes?" Aqualad asked, facing her.

"They're organic, like the ship. They respond to my mental commands." My eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, so the ship's alive?! And we're riding inside of it?" I asked, panicking again. I didn't really want to be anything's lunch, thank you very much.

Megan laughed. "Don't worry, Hawkgirl. The ship's not going to eat you or anything." Was she reading my mind again or was that just a lucky coincidence?

"Can you do that ghosting-through-walls thing that Manhunter does?" Wally asked. I was intrigued. I wish I could go through walls. Ugh, everyone always gets the cool powers!

"Density-shifting? No, it's a very advanced technique." She answered.

"Flash can vibrate his molecules right through a wall." Robin pointed to Wally as he spoke. "When he tries it? Bloody nose."

"Dude!" Wally exclaimed, embarrassed. I was jealous. Everyone seemed to have cool powers to do cool things except for me. All I had were wings that hardly even worked properly.

"Here's something I can do," Megan said. "Camouflage mode." I looked out to see the wing of the ship had disappeared. No, wait, I saw it. Barely.

"Red Tornado to Miss Martian: an emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbor power plant. I suggest you investigate, covertly. I'm sending coordinates." Red Tornado's voice spoke in the ship.

"Received." Megan replied. "Adjusting course."

I heard a sound from Robin. "Tornado's keeping us busy again." Great, my first outing in over a week and it's not even a real mission.

"Well, a simple fire led you to Superboy and Hawkgirl, we should find out what caused the alert." Megan responded as the ship lowered.

I looked out the window and saw what looked like a bigger version of Red Tornado's Tornado, except this one wasn't colored red.

"I think I know the cause," Superboy explained, oddly calm. I braced against my seat as the tornado drew closer.

The ship was caught in the tornado and tossed around wildly. Megan tried to steady the ship, and it flew out of the tornado's grasp.

A hatch appeared, and we dropped down into the ground.

"We have to help them," I said, pointing to the civilians running from the freak tornado.

"Robin, are tornadoes common in New England?" Aqualad asked, but he was already gone.

I heard his laugh, though, and I tried to pinpoint his location. He seemed to be heading to the power plant.

"Come on," I said, running ahead of the others and using my wings to gain ground. I heard something going on inside, and followed the sound of a fight.

I saw a big red robot, even bigger than Red Tornado. He had some tube-things coming from his back and a green-grey scarf. I thought the scarf was unnecessary.

I rushed at him, seeing Robin in my peripheral vision, but the robot threw up a hand and made a mini tornado that sucked me into the air and sent me crashing back down.

Oww," I groaned. That did _not_ feel good on my chest. Robin was also thrown aside by a tornado into a metal column.

I heard the others approaching. That was good. Now we stood a better chance against this robot man. I got up and gathered over with them.

"Who's your new friend?" Superboy asked Robin.

"Didn't catch his name, but he plays kinda rough!" He nearly had to shout to be heard. Superboy jumped on ahead at the enemy.

"My apologies," the robot spoke. "You may address me as Mister Twister." _Hey, that rhymed._ He threw up a couple more tornadoes and Superboy got caught in one of them, spinning around and being thrown into a wall.

 _That's it robot man, you've hurt two too many of my friends,_ I thought, standing alongside the others.

Kid Flash was the first to reach him, running ahead as a blur. I was close behind.

Mister Twister seemed unfazed by our attacks, as he threw Kid Flash out into the parking lot when he tried to do a two-foot kick, and I was sent into a wall for trying to knock him down.

I shook the dust off my feathers and tried at him again, and he just sent me flying back where Aqualad and Miss Martian were lying. _This was not the kind of flying I had in mind!_

We were being tossed around like rag dolls. A direct approach didn't seem to work, so I thought that maybe I could surprise him from the side.

"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero. I was not, however, expecting children." I used his pause to speaks as an opportunity to dash off to the side, out of his line of vision.

"We're not children!" Robin shouted. I heard a whizzing sound, as something suddenly exploded in front of Mister Twister. One sharp circle thing landed in the robot's chest, but he just flicked it away as it exploded behind him.

"Objectively you are. Have you no adult supervision?" He asked. "I find your presence here quite...disturbing." He suddenly lifted his hand in my direction, sending a tornado my way that sent me flying outside this time.

I shouted in pain as I skidded across the concrete, feeling my wings scrape against the ground. I stopped on my stomach, laying awkwardly on the ground.

Tricks wouldn't work, a direct approach wouldn't work. What _did_ work on that robot? I needed an answer, and fast.

Speaking of fast, I saw Kid Flash on the ground near me.

"Wally, Wally wake up!" I said, turning around to him. I heard Mister Twister coming out from inside the power plant. _Oh no,_ I thought, as Kid Flash tried running up to the robot again. He just sent him crashing into a wall.

"Hey, robot man!" I tried getting his attention long enough for the rest of the team to get out here.

"That's enough of you hurting my friends!" I tried the direct approach again, knowing full well it wouldn't work.

As Mister Twister almost boredly sent another tornado my way, I spread my wings instinctively to block it, somehow. Instead, I was swept up in the wind current again.

Only this time it seemed...different. I wasn't tossed around like a toy. Instead, my wings seemed to move on their own, keeping me from losing balance. _Angled, now down, left wing up, angled, then down, and swoop up!_

I flew -flew!- safely out of the tornado and dropped back down to the ground beside the team.

"Hawkgirl, you flew!" Robin congratulated with a smile. I smiled back. It was like my wings just needed the proper motivation to fly. I guess training just wasn't one of them.

"I would've thought you had all learned your limitations by now." Mister Twister tainted us, but I was too excited about having flown that I didn't take offense. This time.

"What do you want?!"Aqualad shouted.

"Isn't it obvious?" _No, not really._ "I'm waiting for a real hero." He levitated into the sky.

"Read his mind."Aqualad turned to Miss Martian. "Find a weakness."

"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that?"

"It's okay with the bad guys!" Robin called to the Martian. I didn't really think so.

She concentrated for a moment. "Nothing, in getting nothing!" Well, that made sense. He _is_ an inorganic robot.

"Hello, Megan! Mister Twister is Red Tornado in disguise!" She exclaimed.

"Wait what?" I asked, confused again. "He doesn't look anything like Red Tornado!"

"Well, he's inorganic, an android! How many android do you know that could generate tornadoes?" Miss Martian explained. I was still unconvinced. He didn't look like Red Tornado, and his tornadoes weren't colored red like the one he used to levitate.

"Red Tornado sent us here!" Aqualad seemed to agree with Miss Martian, though.

"After saying we'd be tested soon enough. This is his test! Something to keep us busy." Robin also went along.

"I still don't believe it!" I shouted. It was true, but I began to think about it. I didn't like being played like this, if it was a test.

"Speedy called it, we're a joke." _Wait, who's Speedy? And have you all lost your minds?!_ I screamed internally as the rest of the team walked nearer to Mister Twister.

"Wait, what are you-"

"We know who you are and what you want." Robin interrupted me. I was getting mad that no one seemed to listen.

"So let's end this." Aqualad commanded. _You idiot! He'll kill us all now!_

"Consider it ended." Mister Twister said darkly.

I wasn't about to stick around for this, I didn't care what my "teammates" thought. As the sky darkened and the robot gathered clouds above him, I hightailed it out of there.

Running and jumping to gain cover in the trees, I leaned against one, my back to the action. I heard things, shouts, explosions, but I wasn't about to turn around and stick my neck out there.

"Fine then, I won't deny you children have power. But playing hide-and-seek with you will not help me complete my objective, so stay concealed. If you confront me again, I will show no mercy." Mister Twister warned, and then I heard him retreat. I dared to look out from my hiding place.

I saw my teammates lying on the ground and no Mister Twister in sight. I risked running out there to help them.

Dashing to them as they got up, I confronted Miss Martian.

"Why in the name of the Justice League did you put us all in danger like that?!" I was really angry with her. Which surprised me. I had never gotten really mad at anyone like that before.

"You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado!" Superboy backed me up. At least he shared my testament.

"She didn't do it on purpose."

"It was a rookie mistake." Robin and Aqualad tried to quell the rising argument.

"None of you should've listened, then." I countered.

"You are pretty inexperienced," Wally added, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Hit the showers, we'll take it from here." He offered.

"Stay out of our way." Superboy warned. I followed, but turned back to Miss Martian.

"It's for your own safety," I added, then followed the others to find Mister Twister.

* * *

 **A/N: I hoped you enjoyed this! I have the next chapter ready to go already, but let's see if we can't get the review number to, oh, I don't know...fifteen by Tuesday? Is that challenge enough for you all? If it is, I will upload two chapters that day instead of one like I plan to.**

 **As always, followers, favorites, and especially reviews are all appreciated.**


	8. Chapter 8

It wasn't hard to find Mister Twister. _Just follow the bouncing tornadoes,_ I thought as I ran along the street, disregarding everything except for the robot I was hunting down.

I spotted him standing near the docks, controlling three large tornadoes at one time.

"Certainly this will get the required attention." I heard him say.

"You got ours!" Kid Flash shouted back. "Full and undivided."

I followed close behind. When his kick seemed to work after a second try, I rushed into the robot's side with my good shoulder.

"Immaterial and insufficient!" I didn't recognize those words. "You are a distraction I can no longer tolerate!" Okay, now those words I knew, and I didn't like them.

I heard Superboy's distinct yell from above as he tried to slam the robot into the ground. But he just moved backwards.

I held my ground along with the others, staring the robot down. I wasn't afraid.

He shot more tornadoes our way, but my wings kept me balanced. Touching down, I lunged at him, but he surprised me with a blast of wind and sent me spiraling backwards.

My back skid against the ground. I rubbed my head in pain, as I felt that my wings weren't going to be flying again like they had before.

I tried rushing him anyway. It was a suicide move, I knew, but it gave the others time to come up with a plan of action. He simply threw me back into a house.

He also sent Superboy and a boat my way, and the two brought the house down. I felt more than a few splinters in my wings.

 _"Listen to me, all of you,"_ the voice spoke again in my mind. But instead of being afraid, I recognized it as Megan's. That made me feel a little better.

"What did we tell you?!" I heard Superboy shout.

 _"I know, and I know I messed up, but right now I'm very clear on what we need to do. Please, trust me."_

I sighed. It was nice to have a plan now. _"I trust you, Megan,"_ I thought.

Once the plan was put in action, the group gathered in front of Mister Twister.

Before he could do anything, "Red Tornado" flew down from the sky in front of us.

"Hit the showers, I was hoping you could handle this, clearly you cannot." He said.

"But we have a plan now!" Robin protested according to plan.

"Yeah, we want to help!" I added.

"The subject is not up for debate." Tornado answered.

As Mister Twister and Red Tornado's battle started, I got into position along with Superboy while Kid Flash mimicked Tornado's wind power.

Tornado appeared to be losing the fight, until Miss Martian surprised him with her shapeshifting powers.

Using the element of surprise, Kid Flash threw him back towards me and Superboy with his tornado.

Superboy rushed forward, disabling the robot with a few well-placed hits. He threw the robot back towards me and I grabbed it by the shoulders, tossing it back into the harbor where I knew Aqualad was waiting.

After a moment, Twister exploded out, as Miss Martian held him in the air and ripped his arms off. Robin also threw some sharp exploding circles at him as Mister Twister crashed back down to earth.

 _Looks like Mister Twister is history. Hey, that kinda rhymed._ I walked with the others to his broken body.

And then a man crawled out. "Foul, I-I call foul," he said, falling out of the robot's body. My eyes widened. If I knew there was a man in there, I wouldn't have given him such a hard time fighting him. Well, probably not.

But Miss Martian did something I thought someone like her would never do. She crushed the man under a rock.

I stood there, my mouth agape, not knowing how to react.

"Don't know how things are done on Mars, but on Earth, we don't execute our captives!" Robin, however, was mad.

"You said you trust me," Miss Martian replied with a smile. _Wait a minute, what?_

She lifted the rock back up. I looked away at first, not wanting to see a crushed body, but instead, the person inside was another robot. _How do these people have the time to build this many robots?_

"That's why I couldn't read his mind." Megan explained.

Wally bent down to pick up a robot eye that fell out. "Cool, souvenir." He said.

"We should've had more faith in you," Kaldur apologized. I nodded in agreement.

"Megan, I'm sorry for getting mad and blowing up at you back there. You did good." I put a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at me, and I returned it.

"Yeah, you _rocked_ this mission. Get it? Rocked?" Wally said. I let out a chuckle at his joke.

"Ignore him," Robin said. But he didn't sound serious. "We're all just turbed you're on the team." _Wait, turbed? What did that mean?_

"Thanks, me too." Megan replied. About that time the adrenaline wore off and the pain in my back and wings returned.

I bent over in pain, but denied help from Aqualad. "I think it's about time to get back to the Cave." I said calmly.

Megan called the Bio-Ship to pick us up and flew us back to the Cave. I picked out as many splinters as I could see and reach while we flew back, wincing in pain every time I did.

As we reached the hangar, I made a beeline to the medical room. Dr. Richards wasn't there, though. I really didn't want anyone messing with my wings, so I headed to the main room and set the Zeta tube coordinates to Central City.

I stepped out in the lab room, looking for any sign of where Dr. Richards lab was. I found a sign of doctor names, and found that he was on the current floor.

I found his room after asking someone at the desk -who wouldn't stop staring at my wings- and knocked on the door.

I heard a muffled "I'll get it," before the door opened and I stood face-to-face with Xavier.

"Hawkgirl, uh, what are you doing here?" He asked. I opened my wings and allowed him to see the damage.

His eyes widened in surprise. "Uncle Steve, get some tweezers," He called back into the room as I stepped in. It wasn't as big as the medical room in Mount Justice, but it still had a table-mat and cabinets with medical things that I didn't know the names of.

I sat up on the table-mat while the two worked on my wings. I flinched from their touch at first, but soon I relaxed as the pain diminished. Pretty soon my wings felt good as new.

I hopped down, flexing them in and out to test them. They seemed stronger now.

"Incredible," Dr. Richards exclaimed. I was confused. He had seen my wings before, this was nothing new. But then again, he had never seen me actually use them.

Can you," Xavier spoke, clearing his throat. "Can you fly with them?"

I shook my head. "Not yet. I'm working on it, though." I smiled at him.

"Well, they would get stronger faster if you ate more often." Dr. Richards responded. I lowered my head. I knew that, but I just didn't feel hungry a lot of the time.

"I'll try to," I promised him. "Thank you!" I started to walk out, my wings healed. Dr. Richards stopped me, though.

"Wait, Hawkgirl." He called after me. "Since you're here, so you mind having your check-up now?" I thought about it for a moment, then turned and got back up on the table-mat again.

"So is 'Hawkgirl' your real name, or…?" Xavier asked. I knit my eyebrows together in confusion.

"It was the only name I was given." I answered.

"Given? By who?"

"Cadmus." Even saying the name made my skin crawl. I didn't want to think about my life before the heroes found me, if I even had a life before that. Xavier remained quiet after that.

After my check-up was done, I returned to the Cave to find the team already in the main room, examining the robot man.

"Yo, Hawkey!" Wally ran up to me and it his arm around my shoulders. "Where ya been?"

"In Central City, getting the splinters out of my wings," I answered, flexing said appendages so that the rest could see.

"It was clearly created to sabotage or destroy you," Kaldur was talking to Red Tornado about the robot.

"Agreed." The red robot said. How I haven't missed that voice.

"Is that why you wouldn't help us?" Megan asked.

"No." _Seriously? Again with the one-word answers._ "This was your battle. I do not believe it is my duty to solve your problems for you. Nor should you solve mine for me." He elaborated.

"But if you're in danger-"

"Consider this matter closed." Red Tornado stopped Megan and walked out of the room. I sent a glare to the back of his head.

"Batman, Aquaman, the Flash, they'd've jumped right in to fix things." Wally commented.

"I guess if we're gonna need a babysitter, then a heartless machine is exactly what we need." Robin said. I agreed with him.

"Dude, harsh," Wally said.

"And inaccurate," Red Tornado spoke, making my heart stop for a second. "I have a heart: carbon-steel alloy." He stopped and turned. "I also have excellent hearing." _Wait, was that a hint of sarcasm? Huh, I guess robots can feel after all._

"Sorry, I'll strive to be more accurate." Robin apologized.

"And more respectful." Kaldur added.

As the team walked out of the main room, Wally noted, "Speedy was so wrong."

"This team thing might just work out." Robin completed.

"Okay, who is Speedy?" I finally asked aloud. The three boys looked at me at the same time.

"Speedy is, was, Green Arrow's sidekick. An archer. He refused to join the team." Wally explained. I felt a little bit better.

We walked a bit further, until I suddenly remembered something Robin had told me back in the Bio-Ship.

"Hey Robin, weren't you going to explain something to me once we got back to the Cave?" I asked.

He looked confused for a second, then remembered too.

"Well…"

* * *

 **A/N: I thought this was a really fun chapter to write. I'm pretty sure I have Welcome to Happy Harbor memorized by now, since I've rewatched it so many times now.**

 **So, about the different POV switches, I think I'm going to keep this story in first person all the way through, and then write another story that has all of the other characters POVs in it like the Hawks and Xavier. What do you think?**

 **Reviews, followers, and favorites are appreciated as always.**


	9. Chapter 9

During the next few days, I usually spent my time either in the living room eating and watching the TV box, in the medical room, in my own room, or visiting Xavier in Central City.

We got to know each other better then. I learned his favorite color, green, his favorite animal, the otter, and his favorite TV box show, something called _Doctor Who._ It seemed interesting.

I also learned I had a favorite color, blue, and a favorite animal, a bluebird, as well.

The next day, I awoke to find a strange package outside my door. There was a note attached as well.

 _To Hawkgirl from Batman, Hawkman, and Hawkwoman_

I was tempted to throw the whole thing away right off the bat when I read Hawkman's name, but if Batman also brought it to me, then it couldn't be totally bad.

It ended up being a suit. There was a yellow shirt that I changed into, holes already made for my wings, and a thicker red shirt that I also put on. There was dark green pants, a skirt that had a lighter shade of green over it, and a bronze-colored belt with the Hawkman symbol on it.

I also put on a shoulder guard wrapped around my body that protected my bad shoulder -even though I'm pretty sure it was healed already- and metal bracers over a pair of brown gloves.

There was a pair of gold boots, and a helmet that looked similar to Hawkwoman's, except the wings were smaller and faced backwards instead of sticking out to the side.

I looked at myself in the mirror. _Now I look like a real hero,_ I thought, admiring the way the suit fit. It was also surprisingly light and I didn't feel hot from the layers.

After admiring the new suit, I put it back in the box for safekeeping. I decided to thank Batman next time I saw him.

That turned out to not be very long. That afternoon, Batman's deep voice echoed through the Cave, calling the team to the main room.

We were there in ten seconds flat. No one wanted to be the last one there, so we all arrived at about the same time. Batman was already waiting for us, along with Red Tornado, who was operating the floating screen behind Batman. An island map came into view as Batman began the mission briefing.

"Isla Santa Prisca," he started, naming the island. "This island nation is the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neosteroid. A strength-enhancing drug sold under the street name "venom." Infrared heat signatures indicate their factory is still operating at full capacity, but all shipments of venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where this team comes in." I kept getting distracted and sending glares at Wally, who decided that now was the best time to snack on a bag of chips.

"This is a covert, recon mission _only._ Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will." I nodded in understanding.

"The plan requires two drop zones." Batman ended.

"So, who's in charge?" Robin asked. I wondered that too now that he said the question, actually.

Batman and Red Tornado both turned to look at us, glanced at each other, then turned back to us.

"Work that out between you." He answered. I hoped no one would pick me to lead.

Flying in the Bio-Ship, we all changed into our costumes. It would've been awkward had Miss Martian not separated the boys and girls with a barrier.

Now, sitting in my seat and looking down on the ocean below, my mind wandered back to who was going to lead. Aqualad seemed to take charge more, and he was clear and precise in his actions. I liked him as a leader, but Robin was convinced he was team leader.

"We're approaching Santa Prisca." Miss Martian said from the controls, breaking the heavy silence of the ship.

I saw the island out the dark window. It looked small, hardly enough to fit Mount Justice on top of it.

"Drop zone A in thirty." Miss Martian announced. Aqualad stood as his chair melted into the floor, pressed the button on his belt as his shirt changed from red to black, and got into position. I was glad I wasn't going along with him. I didn't know how well my wings worked in water, but I didn't think it was very well.

"Ready," he said.

"Putting Bio-Ship in camouflage mode." Miss Martian said as the ship disappeared into the night sky.

I cleared my head as best I could as the ship approached the island. I needed to keep alert this time on the mission. Right now, nothing else mattered.

"Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on a continuous loop." Aqualad spoke through his comm. _Wait, wasn't it pronounced da-ta, not day-ta?_

"Drop zone B," Miss Martian said. The rest of us stood as our seats also melted into the floor.

I pressed the button on my belt like Aqualad had done, and was surprised to find that my yellow shirt turned a dark brown, my red shirt turned a darker red, my pants turned black, and my skirt turned a darker green. I wondered how that worked.

"How cool is this?" Kid Flash pushed the symbol on his chest as his suit turned black.

"Very impressive," Miss Martian commented. She closed her eyes as her suit also turned dark, and she added a hood to her long cape.

"Uh, that works too," Kid Flash replied with a similar weird expression as before. "Hey Supey, not too late to put on the new stealth tech."

The boy in question crossed his arms. "No capes, no tights. No offense." I'm glad I'm not wearing a cape or tights, then.

"It totally works for you," Miss Martian said. And now she had a weird expression on her face. _What is with these people and dumb expressions? Wait a minute...she's not liking my clone brother, is she?_

She then put her hood over her head and turned invisible. The floor below us opened up, and I glided down on my wings and landed without a sound.

 _Okay, observe and report. Observe and report…_ I got into a mission mindset.

Superboy came down after us, landing with such a loud sound I was surprised the find that we weren't immediately surrounded by goons. And a little disappointed.

"Knew I didn't need a line," he remarked.

"And yet creating a _seismic event_ might not have helped us much with the _covert._ " Robin sounded mad. I couldn't blame him.

"Aqualad, drop B is go," Miss Martian spoke into her comm. If he replied, I didn't hear it.

Robin pulled out his circle computer on his wrist. "Roger that," he answered to whatever Aqualad had said.

Running through the jungle was a different experience than running through a city or hallway. For one thing, there was no set path to follow. I nearly lost the others from falling behind. Another thing was that it was much hotter here.

Even though my clothes were light, I was still sweating by the time we slowed our pace to a walk.

Suddenly, I stopped. _Did I just hear what I think I heard?_

Superboy apparently heard it too, because he stopped as well.

"Did you hear that?" He asked. I listened harder. There were men, a whole group of them. And they were in our path.

"Uh, no." Kid Flash replied. "Wait, is this a super-hearing thing?"

"You do have great ears," Miss Martian said with a look that I thought could only be described as "dreamy." _Seriously,_ I thought, now that I know about this whole "crush" thing. _Step off my brother!_

"Okay Rob, now what?" Kid Flash asked. Upon uttering that question, I noticed the boy was no longer in our group.

"Man, I hate it when he does that." _You and me both._

"Observe and report?" I offered. I then remembered that was in fact the focus of the mission, and I gathered all the facts I knew right now.

First, it was hot. And humid. And it smelled. Second, Robin had disappeared. But why? Third, I knew we could possibly cover more ground and observe more information if we split up. I decided to test that theory.

"What if we split up?" I asked aloud. "You know, cover more ground?"

"And risk getting ambushed out here?" Kid Flash retorted. I stared at him. _Well, think what you want. I'm following my plan._

"Wait, Hawkgirl!" I heard him say. It wasn't really normal volume, but not exactly a shout either.

I followed the sounds of the men approaching. There was one to my left, and one group in front of me. I stayed in the trees, leaping from branch to branch right above their heads. They didn't even seem to know I was there.

Then the two groups met with a bang. Well, it was really more of a gunshot, but then they shot more bullets at each other. I knew one thing for sure that night: I didn't like guns.

A third sound entered the picture. I looked in horror as the noise turned out to be Kid Flash slipping in the mud.

 _Oh no,_ I thought, which has now become what I think every time Kid Flash did anything stupid, which was often.

Keeping to the shadows, I dropped down on one armed person and drove my foot into his chest, grabbing his gun while I did so to disarm him. I threw the gun at another guy who ducked. I rushed him and punched him in the gut, making him double over. I then sent my knee into his face.

With two guys down, I looked over to see Superboy join the fight and knock down a bigger guy, who then drove him into the ground. I dashed forward, knocking him back into a tree with my armored shoulder.

"Thanks, sister," he said as he stood again. I smiled at that.

"What is wrong with you guys?!" Robin appeared from the trees like I did, taking out a couple of guys. "Why didn't you follow my lead, vanish into the jungle?"

"Well, I followed that plan. Didn't know it was the plan, though." I said, crossing my arms. _What, you didn't think you needed to fill us in on what to do before all this happened?_

"That's what you two were doing?" Kid Flash sounded agitated. "Way to fill us in. We're not mind-readers, you know."

I looked to find Miss Martian at the notion of "mind-reader," who was busy taking out three more guys. "Or, I'm not, anyway." Kid Flash added.

"You told me I could only read the bad guys' minds," she replied. I still didn't think that was a good idea, but no one seemed to listen to me anyway, so why tell her that?

I turned to the sound of someone retreating. _Oh no you don't,_ I thought, using my wings to give me a boost before halting as Aqualad appeared and shocked the guy with his electric powers. I didn't even know he could do that. _I want electric powers!_

We tied the rest of the men up to trees so hey couldn't escape.

"I recognize those uniforms." Robin spoke. "They belong to the Cult of the Kobra." _The what of the what-now?_

"I'm sure Batman would've warned us if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's venom operation." Aqualad noted. It did seem strange that Batman hadn't even know these guys were here.

"Maybe they're the one who cut off the shipments?" I asked, remembering what Batman said during the briefing.

"Well, since there's clearly no love-loss between the Cultists and those goon, I'm betting Kobra came in and kicked them out." Robin half-explained, half-though out loud. "That's why normal supply lines have been cut off." Wall, that did make sense.

"But what would they want with the venom, anyway?" I asked.

"Don't know. But Kobra's definitely hoarding the stuff. They're not selling it, and I didn't pick up any traces of venom in their system." Robin thought. "We don't leave, not until I find out why they're keeping it."

"Until you know why?" Kid Flash spoke up.

"This team needs a leader," Robin replied.

"And it's going to be the kid who disappeared into the jungle five minutes after we arrived?" I asked, crossing my arms. I was getting irritated at his pompous attitude.

"Oh, so now _you_ want to lead?" He replied, sarcasm dropping from his words.

"Maybe I will, and maybe I'll be an even better leader than you!" I lied. I didn't really want to lead, but I didn't want Robin to lead the way he expects us to just "follow his lead."

"You don't even have any experience leading a team!" Robin shouted.

"Well, you don't have any experience being a team player!" I retorted. "Plus, no one knows what Cadmus taught me before I was frozen. Maybe I _did_ lead a team back there." _Well, there's a first,_ I thought as I hit my own sore spot arguing with him.

Robin looked visibly surprised at my words and bringing Cadmus back up.

"Dude, you're a thirteen-year-old kid," Kid Flash joined in the conversation, backing my side. Or maybe he just wanted to lead as well.

"And you're mature at fifteen? You blew our cover first chance ya got!" Robin looked like he was actually enjoying this argument.

"Well, it's two superpowered teens versus one non-powered kid." I said, pointing to me and Kid Flash and then Robin.

"Batman doesn't have superpowers either!" Robin's expression turned angry at the mention of his lack of superpowers. I figured I hit a weak spot.

"Duh, you're _not_ Batman." Kid Flash replied.

"Scheh, closest thing we got!" Robin said, returning to his usual cocky grin.

We stopped arguing as one goon, the big man, started laughing. I glared at him.

"Such clever _niños y niña,_ but you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest, get you into the factory via my secret entrance." He explained. I didn't trust him one bit.

"There is a secret entrance, but he's also hiding something." Miss Martian knelt down and concentrated on reading his mind.

"Ah ah ah, chica, Bane is not that easy." He stared back at her, unflinching.

"Ugh, he's mentally reciting _fúbol_ scores _en español._ This could take a while." She said. I surprisingly knew what those words meant.

"It's not that complicated, the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Now there's something I've never heard before. I still didn't trust him, but right now we needed answers and Bane was our best shot. The most I could do right now was keep a close watch on him.

* * *

 **A/N: Special note to all the reviewers wanting me to pair Hawkgirl with someone: Honestly I hadn't even thought to ship her with anyone before y'all asked about it. But I got my own plan for that subplot, don't you worry. ;)**

 **But reviews, followers, and favorites are still very much appreciated. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

"Oh yeah, sure, go ahead and trust the guy who wanted us dead ten minutes ago. It's not like my opinion mattered on this team or anything," I muttered as we trekked through the jungle.

"I think you'd make a good leader," Superboy said, walking next to me. I gave him a small smile.

"Actually, I didn't really want to lead. I was just trying to get Robin to back down," I whispered out of earshot of said boy.

"Still, you'd do fine." He replied, smiling a little. Usually I would tease him about that, but the factory came into view as I remembered what the mission was.

I could see people down there, and boxes. _Boxes of venom?_ I thought. There were a lot of them.

"A buy is going down," Robin said, looking into binoculars. I wondered briefly why I didn't seem to need any.

"We need to identify that buyer." Aqualad stated.

"Just was I was thinking," Kid Flash said. So I guess he wants to lead, too.

Robin chuckled. "Yeah, you're the thinker," he mocked.

"Sarcasm? Dude, a real leader would focus on getting answers." Kid Flash replied.

"Yeah, like what's going on in that factory," I pointed down.

I saw Bane go down the hill and in front of what looked to be a boulder. Moving it, he revealed his secret tunnel.

"Answers are this way," he said, waving for us to go inside.

"So now El Luchador is our leader." Kid Flash commented. I whacked him upside the head as I passed.

We walked in silence, until Bane brought us to a door and pushed a button, making it open and lead into the factory. I peered around, looking for any trouble, but it looked like everyone here was outside waiting for that buy to go down.

"All clear," Robin announced, and disappeared into the factory. I really hate it when he does that.

"Has the little fool already been caught?" Bane asked about Robin.

"No, he just does that." Aqualad answered, exasperated.

"Stay put." Kid Flash said, putting his goggles on. "I'll get our intel and be back before the Boy Wonder."

"Wait, Kid," Aqualad tried to stop him, but by then it was too late. Both of them were gone. Great, means I can drop the act now.

"Great chain of command," Bane said sarcastically. I glared daggers at him.

"So, Aqualad, what now?" I asked, turning to him.

He looked surprised. "I had thought you wanted to lead."

I shook my head. "No, not really. I just didn't want Robin to lead."

"And why is that?"

"He's too...young. And inexperienced on the whole "teamwork" thing." I made air quotes. "And I had already thought you were the leader, anyway." I shrugged, then kept walking.

The team ended up following me to see outside to where the buy was going to happen.

"It's a massive shipment," Aqualad said.

"Yeah, but they're only taking new product off the line. They're not touching this venom." Superboy noted.

"Maybe freshness counts?" Miss Martian asked. I turned to Bane to test a thought.

"Did you develop this stuff before or after the Cultists took over?" I asked.

"This stuff was made before," he answered in his gruff voice. I looked back at the people moving around.

"Maybe...maybe they added something to it. Changed it." I thought. It was crazy, I knew, but…

Wait. I heard something. A loud whirring sound.

"Helicopter's coming." Superboy said. _So that's what it's called…_

"And here comes the buyer," I stated. "Now would be a good time for a plan," I said, looking at Aqualad. He nodded.

"Miss Martian, stay in camouflage mode and see who the buyer is." He commanded. She did as told to. I could almost make out her form hovering above where the buy was going down while we made it to a safer place in the factory.

"Sportsmaster, he is the buyer," Aqualad said. His voice sounded shocked. I didn't know who this "Sportsmaster" guy was, but he sounded like bad news.

He tried his comm. "Aqualad to Red Tornado, do you read?" He asked. He apparently has no reply.

"Ugh, can't reach the League, Robin, or Kid Flash. Comm's jammed." He said. I tried the one in my ear as well, and recoiled as I got nothing but loud static.

"We need a plan, now." Aqualad said.

"I have a suggestion," Bane spoke up, then promptly jumped off the side and caught the attention of the guards.

"Oh, that's perfect. Just what we need right now: a firefight." I stated sarcastically. Suddenly, a growl erupted from outside. A monster jumped through the glass window and onto the walkway we were on, causing it to crumble.

 _Great, another Desmond,_ I thought, glaring at the monster. Back then at Cadmus it had taken all of us working together to even knock him out. What would it take for this guy?

Superboy lunged at the monster and kept him busy while Aqualad and I fought off the guys with guns.

I leaped backwards, taking cover and swooping around to the side and clotheslined some guys with my wings. When I ran out of momentum, I knocked one guy's gun out of his hand with my elbow, taking it from the ground and throwing it at another guy's face.

As goons began flying around the place, I figured Miss Martian had also joined the battle. Superboy was currently occupied with the monster-guy, so I rushed up, gaining air with my wings and sending him back a few inches with a double kick. He simply growled and shook me off.

Grabbing my wing, I yelped in surprise as he threw me in Superboy's way, preventing him from rushing the monster-guy.

"Ugh, sorry," I apologized, getting back up and shaking my head.

I heard an explosion, and turned to see what happened as the wind was suddenly knocked out of me from the monster-guy sending a heavy punch to my stomach. I doubled over as Superboy kept him busy.

 _"Everyone online?"_ I heard Miss Martian in my head. I was getting used to that now.

 _"Yeah,"_ Superboy groaned.

 _"You know it, beautiful,"_ Kid Flash said.

 _"Eww,"_ I thought. _"But yeah, I'm on too."_

 _"Good. We need to regroup."_ Aqualad commanded since the battle was quickly turning sideways.

 _"Rendezvous at the tunnel?"_ I suggested, already heading that way, knocking a few goons back in the process.

 _"Busy now,"_ Robin said.

 _"Oh really? Where's the Boy Wonder got to now?"_ I thought, ducking behind cover. He didn't answer.

 _"Robin, now!"_ Aqualad commanded. _"Strategic retreat; Kid, clear a path,"_ he seemed to take charge now. That was good.

 _"Come on, we're almost there!"_ I ran alongside the others, making a beeline for the tunnel entrance.

Once inside, Superboy forced the door closed. I felt a little better now that we were safer, but we weren't out of danger just yet. The monster-guy broken through the door about ten seconds after we got in there. I ran for my life.

"Superboy, Hawkgirl, the support beams!" Aqualad drew my attention to the weak wooden beams that held the place up. With Superboy on the right and me on the left, we locked a few down, enough to send the rocks above crashing down and separating us from the guys chasing us.

Aqualad had a red glow-stick that he broke to illuminated the cave. We were all still reeling from the adrenaline rush from the fight. I bent over, panting. My lungs hurt and my throat burned.

"How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?" Robin reflected. _Um, excuse me,_ your _first mission?_

"You do have the most experience, but perhaps that is exactly what left you unprepared." Aqualad offered his advice to the hero. "Fighting alongside Batman, you're roles are...defined. You two do not need to talk. But this team is new. A leader must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play a part in an unknown plan." Aqualad spoke.

"Oh, so now I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands?" Robin retorted, irritated. He looked down at the ground. "Oh, who am I kidding? You should lead us, Kaldur. You're the only one who can." He smiled up at the teen.

"Please, I can run circles-" Kid Flash started.

"Wally, come on, you know he's the one. We all do." Robin interrupted him.

"That's what I've been saying from the beginning," I said, crossing my arms but smiling.

"Hello Megan, it's so obvious." Miss Martian chimed in.

"Could've told ya," Superboy said.

We all looked at Kid Flash, awaiting his answer. "Okay," he finally said.

Aqualad stepped forward to meet Robin, who I noticed looked way too short standing next to the Atlantean.

"Then I accept the burden, until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders." He placed a hand on Robin's shoulder. _Wait, what?_ "You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon."

With the leader thing now in order, Aqualad turned to the rest of us. "Alright, our first priority is preventing that shipment from leaving this island." I nodded, understanding.

"Funny, I had the same thought." Robin said. _Yeah, but Aqualad does it better._

With the plan sorted out, we ran along the tunnel to the exit, where we can double back into the factory.

"Sportsmaster's the supplier/buyer, but it still doesn't track. He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula, or to get Kobra to do his dirty work." Robin pulled up his circle-computer.

"And neither of them have the chops to bond the Blockbuster formula with venom. That took some major nerd-age." Kid Flash added. _Wait, so I was right about the new venom being different?_

"I believe the expression is 'tip of the iceberg.'" Aqualad said as we ran to the exit, which was currently being blocked by Bane. _Great. Just...just perfect._

"Halt, _niños,_ " he said. We did. "I'm feeling...explosive." I now noticed a bunch of beeping explosives around the rocks where we were. I didn't like it.

"You betrayed us, why?" _Isn't it obvious?_ I thought at Aqualad. _"Kid, you'll need a running start."_ I was impressed at Aqualad's acting skills now.

"I want my factory back, so I forced you into a situation where you either take down my enemies, or die trying. If the latter, then the Justice League certainly would have come to avenge their little sidekicks. And when the dust cleared, Santa Prisca would me mine once more." I started zoning out at the explanation of his evil plan. _Did all bad guys do this or was it just the stupid ones?_

Then, he tried hitting the switch he held, but I saw a blur and realized Kid Flash had run ahead and snatched it out.

"With what? This trigger thingy?" He asked, leaning casually against a tree. Bane tried to punch him, but Miss Martian stopped him and levitated him above us.

"Finally," Superboy got under him. "Drop him." He said, then sent Bane flying.

We tied him up to a tree so that he could watch our own plan unfold. It was my idea, really, as payback for trying to play us like chumps.

I got into position in the trees. _"Remember, Hawkgirl, hit and run_ only. _"_ Aqualad said in my mind.

 _"Yeah, yeah, I know the plan,"_ I replied, stretching my wings for the jump out.

I saw my signal in the form of Kid Flash's blur, prompting the guys with guns to shoot at him. I lunged out of the underbrush, gliding on my wings and knocking a few guys down with my speed alone.

I ran ahead, not stopping to fight one person at a time. I kept some people off Kid Flash's back by hitting them with my wings, then continued back into the forest until I could get another shot.

I saw Superboy and Aqualad work together to take down the monster-guy, until a masked-guy started shooting at my brother. I figured that was a good time and target, and dashed out again.

I flew faster with each shot, synchronizing my wingbeats as I was taught. I lunged at the man, but he saw me coming and stepped back, making me hit the side of the helicopter instead.

I groaned from the pain. Before I could move again, I got a kick to the side and was launched back into the concrete. Well, at least I was on my stomach that time.

As much as I wanted to try again, I stuck to the plan, and ran back into the woods. Mia Martian suddenly seemed to appear trapped in a choke-hold as Superboy kept taking shot after shot from the masked man's gun.

I decided to go ahead and try again, giving my friends enough time to either escape or counterattack. I rushed again, this time keeping my wings as quiet as they could be to try to have some element of surprise.

It didn't work. As I sent my fist aimed at the guy's face, he caught it and used my momentum to throw me out of the fight again. I was beginning to feel useless here.

He walked onto the helicopter, as it began to take off. _Now I_ really _wish I could fly,_ I thought as it looked like it was escaping. I rushed over to Superboy and Miss Martian to see if they were okay, as she held up the trigger to the explosive we got off Bane and put on the helicopter.

I flinched at the loud explosive, but now our job was nearly done. I flinched again when the fiery helicopter crashed back down on the factory.

"Well, at least now there'll be no more venom. Or any new venom." I said, hopeful.

I now turned to who I remembered was Kobra, the leader of the cult, who was currently pinning Robin down.

"I am plagued by mosquitoes." He said. _Get off of my friend if you know what's good for you,_ I thought, readying myself for a fight.

"Good, 'cause this mosquito's mighty _concerted_ over your pain." Robin replied with his usual snark.

He leaped backward in front of us. I smiled as he knew we knew he was outmatched. But then he began to fade into the jungle.

"Another time, then." He stated, then vanished.

I turned to survey the damage we had done to the factory. Everything seemed to be on fire. "We'll, at least we got them all out of here," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"And we destroyed their venom supply, too." Kid Flash added.

"We picked the right guy to lead," Robin admitted. "Automatically making you the right guy to explain this mess to Batman." He walked away, laughing.

 _Holy carp, Batman!_ I thought, putting my forehead in my palm. _Oh no, he's_ so _going to kill us…_

"A simple recon mission, observe and report," Batman berated once we got back to the Cave and changed our of our dirty suits. "You'll each receive a written evaluation detailing your _many_ mistakes." He really sounded angry. I couldn't blame him.

"Until then, good job." We all looked at him, surprised at his words.

"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success; and how you choose who leads determines character."

He let us retire back to our rooms after that. I found a sticky note on my door and peeled it off the read.

 _Dear Hawkgirl,_

 _We apologize for our last training session. If you are feeling up to try again, meet us at the Hall entrance tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning._

 _Signed,_

 _Hawkman and Hawkwoman_

A smile crossed my lips despite myself. I did want to at least try to make amends with the Hawks now that I wasn't so angry with them. I decided I would meet them tomorrow to try again.

I got another note, this one stamped with a bat symbol, a few days later. I dreaded actually opening it since I knew what it was about already. I didn't really feel like reading what Batman thought of my first mission, but I opened it anyway.

 _Hawkgirl_

 _Could use some combat practice._

 _Follows orders well, though should work on defensive maneuvers._

 _Batman_

* * *

 **A/N: I liked writing this chapter as well. It's always fun to tell a known storyline from a new perspective and see what a new person adds on to a story. The next chapter I think will be more of a filler chapter with some character development.**

 **Reviews, followers, and favorites are all appreciated. :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Trainings with the Hawks went much more smoothly now. They went easier on me, not that I needed it, but I was glad they were learning from past mistakes as well. My wings grew more in the span of a few days than in all my time before. I could now fly higher and stay up longer, and it felt _amazing._

They cut their training time down, but that also meant that I needed to work about twice as hard now. I didn't mind. The extra physical activity gave me something to do besides watching the TV box with Superboy all day.

Speaking of, he had begun to warm up to me now, and now called me "sister" about as much as I called him brother. I was glad he was talking with me again.

One day, I was sitting cross-legged on my bed while eating a couple of pizza slices I managed to grab before Wally cleaned out the box, when Miss Martian knocked on the door, opening it slightly so I could see her face.

"Hey, Hawkgirl," she said. I stood up and went to the door frame.

"Would you like to come with the team on a camping trip?" She asked. I thought for a moment, confused as to what "camping" entailed.

"What's...camping?" I voiced my thoughts. She smiled and grabbed my arm, dragging me out of my room.

"Come on, we'll show you!" She exclaimed. _Well, it sounds kind of fun…_

Pretty soon she had gathered everyone in the living room, waiting for Wally. I was still confused about this whole thing, but I wasn't about to duck out on hanging out with the team.

"We're gonna need a lot more stuff than that if we're gonna go camping," Robin said as Wally raced into the room carrying some supplies in his arms.

"I hope you don't mind, I invited all the others to join in the fun with the s'mores." _S'mores? What were those?_

I soon learned that they were some sort of dessert, with chocolate and marshmallows and graham crackers. They tasted amazing.

"This was a great idea, don't you think, Wally?" Robin said, sitting by the fire once we set everything up. "Camping in the great outdoors!" I sat down beside Superboy and enjoyed the feeling of not having the back of a chair squashing my wings by flexing them back and forth.

"I didn't remember inviting all of you." Wally replied. "Besides, I didn't say anything about camping, I said a camp _fire._ Big difference between just a camp fire and the whole camping thing. I don't like camping outside…"

"...unless I'm camping with that special someone." He finished, leaning back in Megan's direction. I sighed in annoyance now that I understood what was going on between her and Wally.

"Well, I think all of us camping is a wonderful idea!" The Martian in question said excitedly.

"So…" I began, setting my elbows on my knees. "What do you do when you go camping?" I asked, still confused. The only things we've done so far was build a fire and set up sheet-things called tents. Was that really it?

"Well, you pitch tents outside, build a fire, roast things like s'mores, and tell stories around the campfire," Robin explained. I felt a little better now that I knew what was happening.

"Is this a standard thing for people?" I wondered out loud. Everyone looked at me strangely, even Superboy.

"It really depends on the person, if they like camping or not. Some do, and some don't." Robin replied, glancing at Wally with his last part.

"So you...tell stories as well?" I was intrigued. I didn't have a story to tell, but I wanted to hear what the others wanted to say.

"Yeah," Robin answered, nodding.

"Why don't you tell us your story, Hawkgirl? You know, before we got you from Cadmus." Wally asked.

I thought for a moment, then began. "Well… I don't have many memories from before. I've been trying to remember, but there's very few things that come to me. I remember a small wooden house...before Cadmus, I know I had someone that looked after me. I just don't remember who.

"I remember Cadmus the most. The tests they did...they put me in places -training, I guess- and tested my strength and flight and endurance." I shook my head as my brain started hurting again.

"And then suddenly...nothing. The next thing I knew, I was in that room with the three of you," I motioned to Robin, Kaldur, and Wally. They all remained silent.

"So you're... not just a clone?" Wally was the first to speak. "I mean, if you remember something before Cadmus, then that means you had a family."

I nodded. "I've been trying to piece that together myself. The most I remember is that house," I explained.

"Do you remember an address?" Robin asked. "A number on the side of something?"

I shook my head. After that, the camp fell into an awkward silence save for the roar of the fire.

Soon, Kaldur was asked about his origin as Aqualad. I tried paying attention, but soon the crackling fire and his rhythmic voice had put me to sleep.

 _I awoke in a bed. But it wasn't my bed. I looked around, confused. The room was small, only a desk and a dresser with a mirror fit._

 _I stared into the mirror, moving from the bed to get a better look at the girl inside. I looked younger and I noticed something else..._

 _I didn't have my wings._ Wait, was this another memory?

 _I turned around, but there wasn't even a trace of the dark brown appendages on my back. I was confused and scared now._

 _"Tabitha!" A voice called down. The name made me instinctively turn my head. "Time for breakfast!"_

 _I cautiously stepped out. The house seemed foreign and familiar at the same time. Somehow, I made my way into a kitchen, where a grey-haired woman was standing my the stove while something sizzled in the pan she held. I recognized her. The woman from my other dream, the one who held the photograph of me._

 _"Oh good, you're up," she said, turning around and putting some bacon on a plate. I took it from her when she handed it out._

 _"What's wrong, dear?" She asked, looking concerned. "You're usually running off at the mouth by now."_

 _"I-I just...didn't sleep well," I replied awkwardly. I didn't know what else to say. I sat down at the small table across from her._

 _"Listen, Tabi," she began, setting her mug she had in her hand down. "I know this is a hard time for you, with your mother passing away and all,"_ Wait, I had a mother? And now she's… _"but I just want you to know I'm here for you, if you ever want to talk." She placed her hand on mine. I smiled._

 _Hey, Hawkey…_ wait, who said that?

 _Hawkey…_

"Yo, Hawkgirl!" Wally shouted, snapping me awake.

I groaned and looked around. I was sitting back on the log, surrounded by the team. I glanced behind me to find my dark brown wings hanging on my back. I sighed in relief.

"You missed my origin story!" Wally complained. Robin chuckled.

"Trust me, you didn't miss much," glancing back at the redhead.

"Can you tell us about how you got started, Robin?" Megan asked, eating more s'mores. Wally let out a laugh at that. I was confused, but intrigued. Seemingly everything about Robin was a mystery to, well, everyone.

"Are you kidding me?" Wally said after he stopped laughing, although a smile was still planted on his face. "Bats won't even let him tell you his real name!" _Wait, Robin had a secret identity too?_ "I mean, you'd probably get a better origin story out of Supey over here," Wally gestured over to my brother.

"Well, do you remember anything from Cadmus, or before that?" I asked, turning my head to see him better.

"I don't even think I had a 'before,'" he responded.

"Yes, chronologically Superboy is only sixteen weeks old," Kaldur said. I felt embarrassed. _But that didn't make sense,_ I thought. _I had a "before," why didn't Superboy?_

"And so you have no memory of things before being rescued?" Megan asked.

"I have some memories...from the G-Gnome," Superboy replied. _Was that where I got my memories as well?_ "It would feed me information about the world outside while I was in the containment pod."

"So you can remember things? When you were in the containment pod they would feed you information and you could remember it, right?" Megan asked.

Superboy shrugged. "I guess so."

"Well, if you remember what they taught you, you must've been thinking about things as the fed you information." She surmised. "What did you think about?"

"When I was in the containment pod, I was fed...information." He looked angry. I put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from going berserk or something from the memories.

"I didn't really start thinking for myself until after I got out." He admitted, relaxing again.

"Well, what kind of things do you think about now?" Megan asked.

He looked angry again. _Oh no…_ "The one thing that's always been on my mind is...destroying Superman."

"But Superman's not bad...is he?" I asked, breaking the tension. Or perhaps escalating it, I couldn't tell.

"Are you serious, Superboy?" Megan seemed shocked as well.

"It's how I feel, sometimes." Superboy stood and turned away from us. "What if that's why I was created, the only reason I was created?"

"And if Superboy was made to destroy Superman...what does that say about me?" I hadn't realized I had spoken aloud until everyone glanced at me. I shook my head. "I can't remember my purpose, or if I even had one. The ice...the ice did something to me," I clutched my head as the pain returned.

"That's not possible," Megan comforted.

"Yeah, look at all the good you've done," Wally added.

"She does have a valid point." I completely forgot Robin was even here until he spoke up. Sometimes he just faded into the background. "We really don't know anything about what Cadmus did yet." He wasn't making me feel any better.

"We know they're the good guys, and they're a part of this team." Wally smiled at us. Well, more at me, but still.

"In my world, actions speak louder than words. Both Superboy and Hawkgirl have proven their intent with their actions." Kaldur spoke.

But that still left the fact that I had forgotten nearly everything when I was frozen. I ignored the pain in my head this time. _What if...what if I joined this team on mistake? What if I was created to do something else, like… ugh, I don't know, go against the Justice League? What if that was my purpose?_

Megan was telling her origin story now. She told of Mars, which I thought was a cool place to live, and how everyone lived underground close together in really large family units.

She told us close she and her uncle were, and how he began looking for a protégé once he saw the other heroes had them as well.

He held a competition on Mars, which Megan wins dn got to travel to Earth and fight crime with her uncle.

"Now I'm here with all of you, and I'm part of the team! I truly love it!" She finished dramatically, raising her hands in the air.

"We're happy you're here with us as well, M'Gann." Kaldur said.

"You can say that again!" Wally agreed. I rolled my eyes and stood up.

"Well, it's been really fun uh, camping with you all, but I think I'm going to go to sleep now." I retreated back into the tent Megan and I decided to share.

It was a warm night, so instead of pulling the sheets over me, I just laid on the mat on my stomach. Megan soon joined me in the tent.

"Sorry if I hit you with my wings while I'm asleep," I apologized in advance.

"It's no problem," she replied, then turned her back to me.

I fell back asleep soon after. My last thought before I did, though, was _I forgot to tell them my real name..._

* * *

 **A/N: I think the next chapter will be a sort-of continuation of this one, so "Schooled" will have to wait until after chapter 12.**

 **Reviews, followers, and favorites are still very much appreciated. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

The next day, I woke up uncomfortably sore. I guessed it was from the training I did a couple of days ago, and stretched my wings.

I suddenly remembered where I was when my wing hit Megan's side. She jolted awake.

"Sorry! Sorry, Megan," I apologized, tucking my wings in and sitting up to see if she was alright.

"It's okay, Hawkgirl." She replied. "But now that I'm up-"

"Tabitha," I interrupted, looking at the mat below me.

"What?" She seemed confused.

I repeated the word I heard in my dream. "That's my name. My real name." I remembered that much at least.

Megan smiled at me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Well, _Tabitha,_ do you want to help me fold the tent back up? I mean, I could do it with my telekinesis, but it would be more fun to do it the old-fashioned way."

I smiled back and nodded. I stood up and followed Megan outside where we seemed to be the first people up from the camp. I took our camping gear from inside while Megan undid the ropes and poles. One time, she nearly sent the tent sheet down on top of me.

"Hey Megalicious, you want a hand with that?" I heard Wally's voice outside and returned to where the two were standing.

"Actually, Tabitha and I have it handled here. You can go on inside, Wally," Megan replied. I noticed she used the name I remembered.

"Wait, you and who? There's no one else out here except for you, me and…" he trailed off as his eyes met mine.

"Tabitha is my real name," I explained. "I remembered it last night in a dream." Well, that wasn't a total lie.

He seemed to accept this answer. "Sweet! Now I won't have to call you Hawkey all the time." He smiled at me, which I returned. I picked up the rolled up mats from the ground and tossed them lightly at him.

"Here, since you want to help, you can go out these back in the Cave." I said playfully. He looked disappointed that he wouldn't spend extra time with Megan, but dashed off inside anyway.

The noise seemed to wake the others as well, and soon we all were back in the Cave relaxing in the living room.

Superboy was the first to leave. And then Kaldur, then Megan and Wally. Robin and I still sat in front of the TV box, watching some sort of show.

And then another came on. It had real people this time, with cool theme music. My eyes widened when I saw the title: _Doctor Who._

"Hey, that's Xavier's favorite show!" I exclaimed. Robin looked at me behind his dark shades.

"Uh, who?" He asked.

"Xavier. He's a friend." I explained, then went back to watching. It turned out to be even more interesting than when Xavier talked about it. There was a man in a long trench coat -that I thought looked really cool- who called himself the Doctor and he went around saving the world with a cool buzzing screwdriver-that-didn't-look-like-a-screwdriver.

I normally went to my room after about halfway through a show, but I sat through the whole entire episode this time. I didn't even notice that Robin had left until I looked over during a commercial break and found the seat empty. I didn't care either way.

After the show ended, instead of going back to my room, I went into the main room and put in Central City into the Zeta computer.

The light transported me into the lab, where I took off down the hall to find Xavier. I hadn't seen him in a few days, and I wanted to talk with him about the show and to catch him up on my first mission. I found him walking down a hallway.

"Hey, Xavier!" I called out, getting his attention. His face seemed to light up when he saw me and I ran up to him. I pulled him into a hug, which made him freeze at first, but then he returned it.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you for a few days," Xavier began after we parted.

"Well, I did go on my first official mission with the team," I beamed as I explained my absence. "But it's top secret information. You can't tell anyone," I whispered. He nodded in understanding.

I glanced around, but we were alone in the hallway. And then I explained everything about the mission in a hushed voice, making sure no one overheard. Eventually we ended up sitting against a wall beside each other.

I told him about Santa Prisca, the venom, and the fight for team leader. I was surprised to find out how much I remembered about the mission. I explained how I met Bane, what happened in the factory, and finally Aqualad becoming our leader and forming a plan against Sportsmaster.

"Wow," Xavier exclaimed quietly after if finished. "You've...kept busy." He sounded a little envious.

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and guess what else?" I was excited to tell him about my dream and my name.

He leaned in closer. "What is it?"

"I remember my name!" I stage-whispered, smiling wide. Xavier raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"Call me Tabitha," I stated matter-of-factly. He smiled at that.

"I like that name," he said. "It suits you."

I smiled back at him. I liked having him to talk to. He always listened and answered my questions, no matter how annoying I thought I was being. Wally seemed a little too self-absorbed, And Robin was too mysterious and kept too many secrets. He confused me just by being there. Kaldur and Megan were nice, but I preferred to talk to Xavier.

"What about you?" I asked. "What did you do while I was away?"

"I uh, just helped Uncle Steve in the office and lab and visited family." He said somewhat awkwardly.

"What's your family like?" I asked. I wondered if it was anything like Wally's.

"Umm...well, I usually stay with my uncle. He's nice -well, you know that already- and he lets me stay in a spare room in his apartment. My dad's…" he trailed off. His eyes looked far away.

"My dad didn't like it very much when I said I wanted to be a doctor. He wanted me to play sports or something." He explained. "My mom's not usually home when I visit. She works a lot."

"Oh. So, you don't normally live with your parents?" I knit my eyebrows in confusion.

Xavier shook his head. I couldn't help but notice how his long bangs danced around his eyes. "My uncle took me in when my dad got...a little bit violent. I only visit now, since technically I'm supposed to be living there. If it was up to me, I'd live with Uncle Steve twenty-four-seven." I didn't understand that expression, but I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Don't worry, Xavier," was all I could think of to say. I didn't really think it was that inspiring, but he smiled reassuringly at me anyway.

"Well, Tabitha, I should probably get back now. I'm sure Uncle Steve will be wondering where I am." He said as he stood, offering me a hand up as well. I took it.

"Alright," I replied. "I hope you have fun, Xavier." He let out a laugh.

"I will. See you later," he started walking down the hallway, still smiling. I stood there for a moment, not sure of what I should do until my feet started moving.

"Wait," I called out, jogging back up to him. He turned around just as my arms wrapped around him in a tight hug. "Bye, Xavier," I said as he returned the hug after a moment. I liked this feeling, it was nice to feel his arms around my shoulders, like he was keeping me safe.

"I, um. I-I should definitely be going now," Xavier whispered. I sighed, then pulled away. Xavier looked like he was trying not to smile so big, but his attempt failed and all he could do was clear his throat and turn down the hall.

I don't think I've ever been in a better mood since I got out of the ice.

"Hey, Tabitha," Robin called to me from the living room when I walked into the kitchen. I figured Wally must've told the rest of the team about my name while I was gone. "You look like you're in a good mood. What happened?" He asked.

"I went to see Xavier," I said simply. He smirked and raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything else as I retreated back into my room.

The next day I was called into the main room by Batman. Everyone was surprised that he'd call me out like this, especially me. I thought he was going to get onto me for leaving to see Xavier the day before, but when I walked into the room he didn't seem particularly angry. I also saw someone dressed in a suit, which I thought was a cool costume.

"Hawkgirl," Batman caught my attention. I stood a little straighter. "This is Giovanni Zatara. He has something that will help you blend in with the public." I couldn't make sense of Batman's cryptic explanation.

"How do you do, miss?" Giovanni Zatara introduced with a foreign accent, giving a small bow. I bowed my head respectfully. He produced a small necklace with a little crystal on the end.

"This is a glamour charm," he explained. "An enchanted crystal that will hide your wings from the general populace. Of course, you, the team, and the League will still be able to see them, but ordinary citizens will not." I nodded in understanding and took the necklace from his hand.

I put it on myself, moving my hair out of the way, but I didn't feel any different.

"Did it work?" I asked, frowning.

"There's reason to hope," Zatara said. That made me feel a little better, I think.

"Well, thank you, Giovanni Zatara!" I called back as Batman let me go back to the team.

"So, what did Bats want?" Wally was the first to ask.

I showed them all the necklace. "Giovanni Zatara gave me this to hide my wings. With this, now I'm just Tabitha." I explained with a smile.

"That's a pretty cool necklace," Robin commented. I thanked him.

"Have you tested it out yet?" Kaldur asked. I shook my head. Megan took this as an opportunity to invite me to go shopping with her.

"Hey, I know something we can do!" She piped up. "I have to pick up a few groceries anyway, would you like to come along?" I nodded excitedly.

A few minutes later we were walking down the sidewalks of Happy Harbor. As much as I had spent so much time in the Cave, I'd never once ventured outside the forest surrounding the mountain.

I didn't get any weird looks like before when I had gone out in public, so I'm guessing that the charm must've worked.

The view was amazing. Nearly everywhere you were in the town, you could still see the ocean on the horizon. I wondered what it felt like to fly out above it, chasing that line on the edge of the sea down. I wanted to know what flying over the sea felt like.

"Are you enjoying the view?" Megan asked. She had shifted her appearance so that she no longer had green skin. I nodded, smiling.

"It looks amazing." I replied in hushed wonder as we walked down the street.

We stopped at a grocery store, picking out different food items, some of which I couldn't name. I wondered what they were for.

I also picked out a couple of new shirts, since I was getting tired of just wearing a green or red one all the time. I also chose a cute yellow sundress with white stripes.

"Hey look, I'm Robin!" I exclaimed, holding up a pair of dark sunglasses like he had on all the time. Megan chuckled, and I continued.

"I deserve to be leader because Batman said so!" I mocked in a whiny voice. Megan started laughing, and soon I followed.

Pretty soon, we returned to the Cave with me minus the sunglasses but with my shirts and sundress, and a red backless swimsuit that Megan thought I should get. The Martian also levitated the bags of groceries, which she set on the counter to prepare for dinner. I stayed in the living room while Megan made us dinner.

"Hey, Megan, what do you think of Superboy?" I asked, turning back, not subtle but not joking either.

She looked surprised for a second, then gave a small smile. "I think he's nice, and a good teammate." I wasn't entirely convinced with her answer, but it was better than nothing.

"So, what's this I hear about a new boy?" She asked me, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

I raised an eyebrow and turned completely to the side. "Xavier? He's someone I met when I stayed with Wally in Central City. He's, like, my best friend. Beside you, of course." She looked like she didn't completely believe my answer, but didn't push the matter any further. I'm not sure if _I_ completely believed my answer.

The team all ate Megan's cooked chicken shrewd around the living room. I took a seat next to Superboy. I noticed he seemed a little extra grumpy as of late.

"Megan, this chicken is delicious!" Wally exclaimed, sitting in a chair.

"Thanks, Wally, I think I'm finally getting the hang of Earth appliances." She smiled openly at his compliment.

That night I didn't dream of the house, or of anything, for that matter. At least, I didn't remember if I did.

* * *

 **A/N: I just want to send a shout-out to everyone how has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story thus far (except for you, random anon). You guys are my motivation to keep writing this. I hope it lives up to all your expectation.**

 **"Schooled" will be the next two chapters, I promise. Although I kinda like writing these "filler" chapters as well. I just love writing everything about this story. ^_^**

 **Just a side note: updates will become slower now since this was the last chapter I had already typed out before publishing this story.**

 **As always, reviews, followers, and favorites are appreciated. :)**


	13. Chapter 13

I found Superboy the next morning pacing through the hallway towards the main room. In contrast to yesterday, he seemed to be in a better mood than usual.

"What's up, brother?" I asked, stopping in front of him near the Zeta tube. The others started gathering there as well. I was glad I put on my costume this morning, as everyone else seemed to wear theirs as well.

"I'm headed to Metropolis." He answered simply.

"Oh! Isn't that the home of Superman?" Megan piped up, floating up near to me.

Superboy nodded. "I'm gonna go see if I can't help anything there," he said as he turned and went through the Zeta tube. I thought I heard him mumble something else before, but I couldn't make it out with his low voice.

I shrugged. It wasn't like he pried into my life all the time, so I thought it only fair to let him go.

"Hey Tabitha, you ever play air hockey before?" I turned toward Wally's voice as a floating...table thing appeared in the main room. I shook my head in answer.

"What's...air hockey?" I asked, walking over to meet him near the floating table.

He explained that it was a game where you tried to get a disk, called a puck, into a slot on the opposite side, that was guarded by another person that had the same objective. I started to understand it better once Robin and Wally played a game.

The game turned long and competitive, with Robin winning by only one point. Wally claimed he cheated, but no one really believed him.

Megan and I also played, now that I understood the rules. We were both pretty bad, but I eventually won by two points. By the end, everyone, including us, were laughing at our incompetence of the game.

With Superboy still in Metropolis, Aqualad played against Wally again. I saw the redhead now had a banana in his hand, and I wondered when he run off to get one. It was probably during my game.

We all heard the Zeta tube activate, as Superboy's name was announced and the clone stepped into the main room.

"Hey, Superboy, how was Metropolis?" Megan asked. She seemed to perk up a little at his entrance. He didn't reply. I was confused, as he seemed to be in a good mood earlier. Perhaps something had happened in the city?

"Ready for training, everyone?" A woman's voice spoke up. All of us turned to see who it was.

I saw the woman, who I recognized as Black Canary, along with Martian Manhunter to her left and Hawkman to her right. I smiled at my mentor.

"Black Canary, Uncle J'onn!" Megan exclaimed.

"Hawkman!" I added. I was no longer mad at him or Hawkwoman, and they weren't as hard on me as before, so we were on good terms now. I ran up and pulled him into a hug as he embraced me semi-awkwardly.

"I came to check up on you. And to make sure you're still doing your exercises." He said as we broke apart. I nodded, still smiling.

"I was just about to go and test my wings with my new suit." I replied. Well, it wasn't really that new anymore, but it still felt new when I wore it.

"Good. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress tomorrow morning." I smiled at his words, and he finally returned the gesture, which made me smile bigger.

"Stick around, class is in session." Black Canary said. I turned to see Superboy with his back to us. _Wait, was he walking out in us?_

She walked out onto the platform I just now noticed in the room, as the floor lit up. I thought that was cool.

"I consider it an honor to be your teacher." She began. I was ready for training; I'd already been through training with the Hawks many times before, so I looked forward to what Black Canary had to teach.

"I'll throw a lot at you, everything I learned from my own mentors," she shrugged off her jacket and revealed bandages on her arm. "Ugh, and my own bruises."

"What happened?" Megan asked. I was wondering that too.

"The job." Black Canary replied with a stern look. She sort of reminded me of Hawkwoman. She threw her jacket away.

"Now, combat is about _controlling_ conflict, putting the battle on _your_ terms. You should always be acting, never reacting." She began her lesson.

"I'll need a sparring partner." I was about to volunteer and show Hawkman how much I had learned over the past week, but Wally spoke up before I could.

"Oh! Right here," he said with a mouthful of banana. He walked up to meet her, throwing his banana in the trash.

"After this, I'll show you _my_ moves," he commented. I thought his tone sounded a little weird. Black Canary gave a look that said _oh really?_ before sending her fist in his direction as quick as lightning. Wally brought his hand up and blocked it, but Black Canary swung low and knocked him down with her leg.

I winced at the impact. It reminded me of how my first training day went with Hawkwoman.

"Good block, but did anyone see what he did wrong?" _He didn't move fast enough?_

"Ooh, oh, he hit on teacher and got served?" Robin piped up. _Got served? What did that mean?_

"He allowed me to dictate the terms of-"

"Oh please," Superboy spoke for the first time since he got back. I gave him a surprised look.

"With my powers the battle's _always_ on my terms. I'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time." He said, balling his fists. _Well, I'm a living weapon too, with super strength, and I still need training._

"Prove it," Black Canary challenged. Superboy looked surprised, but stepped up to her. They got into a fighting stance, with Superboy throwing the first punch.

Black Canary was quick as she grabbed his arm and flipped him onto the ground. I was surprised. Black Canary certainly had her fair share of fights, being able to beat Superboy in about ten seconds.

Superboy got back up, looking angrier than before, and lunged at Black Canary again. I gazed in amazement as she seamlessly flipped over his shoulder and took him down with a sweeping kick without even breaking a sweat. I thought she and Hawkwoman could be good friends. I could learn a thing or two from Black Canary.

"That's it, I'm done." Superboy growled as he got up from the ground.

"Training is mandatory." Black Canary put a hand on his shoulder, which he shrugged off.

Just then, Batman's face appeared on a floating screen, calling the Cave. We all turned our attention to him.

"Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary." He said as a picture popped up showing a robot man's face. _Seriously, what is it with bad guys and robots?_

"The attacker was capable of studying then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents." A video played showing Superman, Red Tornado, and Flash attacking the robot. "Arrow called for reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous, as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant. In the end, it took eight Leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android."

"An android?" Robin spoke. "W-who made it? T. O. Morrow?" _T. O. Who-now?_

"Good guess, Robin, but Red Tornado doesn't think so." Batman replied.

"The technology bears the signature of Professor Ivo." Martian Manhunter said. _Professor Who?_ I really had to learn the names of these people if I'm going to go toe-to-toe with them.

"Ivo?" Aqualad remarked in shock. "But Ivo's dead."

"Or so we all thought," Hawkman spoke next.

"Or hoped," Black Canary added.

"To make sure this threat is permanently neutralized, we're sending two trucks each carrying the androids parts to separate STAR Labs facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation." Batman said as a map showing the places appeared.

"Every precaution is being taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion, in case Ivo, or anyone, tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."

"Yes! Road trip," Wally said. _Road trip? Was that like camping? I need to find a dictionary…_

"So now we take out your trash?" Superboy asked with disdain.

"You had something _better_ to do?" Batman returned with an extra edge of sarcasm that I hadn't heard from the man until now.

"Coordinates received," I saw Aqualad look at a small device in his hand. I wondered what it was for. "On our way."

I took one last look at Hawkman, who nodded in silent goodbye, and then followed the others to the Bio-Ship.

I put a black jacket with red, green, and yellow styling on it over my hero outfit, tucking my wings in and wrapping them around my body so that they fit as flat as they could. I also had a helmet that was painted to resemble my own.

We arrived shortly after, with things that Robin told me were motorcycles, already waiting, as well as the six trucks and some of the League. I waved to Hawkman and Hawkwoman as the team and I went behind some bushes and trees to conceal our presence.

I waited anxiously to hear the sound of the trucks moving so that we could get on the road. Once they did, I drove left with Robin and Superboy. I never really knew I could drive a motorcycle, but maybe that was something I learned back in Cadmus.

We rode in silence for the most part, watching the truck carefully to make sure nothing happened.

"If dislike is the opposite of like, is disaster the opposite of aster?" Robin asked through our linked comms. I was confused at his words. "See, instead of things going wrong, they go right."

"Are you sure that's how words work?" I asked.

He shrugged. "How it works for me." I could practically see his smirk underneath the dark visor. Superboy didn't reply.

"Uh, clearly you're not feeling the aster. What's wrong?" Robin asked.

"Canary." Superboy replied. I edged a little closer to him. "I mean, what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?"

"Well, I have super strength too, and you've seen how well I do in a fight." I remarked, remembering my first few battles that were very much one-sided.

"Yeah," Robin agreed. "Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig. Canary learned that the hard way, same with Batman and, well, me."

Superboy only grumbled in reply and sped on ahead of us. I wished I knew what was wrong, but right now wasn't the best time to ask.

Suddenly, I heard something flying towards us. A lot of somethings. I turned my head to come face-to-face with a bunch of small flying monkey-things that had a very annoying laugh.

I used one hand to take off my helmet and slap one robot with it - _seriously? Again with the ridiculous amounts of robots_ \- and tossed it at one who just flew around it as it bounced on the ground.

The monkey-robots swarmed around the truck, lacking onto it and using their laser eyes to cut into the truck. I sped up until I was beside the vehicle and began knocking the robots off. I decided one jacket wasn't worth saving, as my wings ripped through the fabric and began hitting the monkeys.

I suddenly felt a pain in my bad shoulder. I turned to see monkey-robots take advantage of the large targets and grab onto them, pulling them downwards and skid against the hard road. I shouted in pain and threw them off.

That got their attention. Some more monkey-robots grabbed my wings again, this time lifting me up off my motorcycle. Without a driver, I saw it skid and almost crash into Robin, but he leaped out of the way in time. The monkeys pulled my higher as the pain returned, and then they dropped me from the sky.

I opened my wings to use them as parachutes to stop my fall, and pumped them as hard as I could to catch up to the now out-of-control truck. I managed to knock some more monkey-robots off the side before they turned back to me and shot at my wings with their lasers.

I felt like they burned holes into my wins. I shouted in agony as the sudden pain made me lose balance and drop onto the road.

The road hurt. Badly. I skidded across the ground, taking cuts from every angle, until I finally stopped rolling on my stomach. I looked up from where I lay and saw the monkey-robots flying with what I guessed were the android parts.

I saw my motorcycle a few meters down from where I stood up, and rushed to climb back on and met Robin at the sight of the crashed truck.

"The parts?" I asked once I stopped.

He sighed. "Gone. And so's Superboy." He appeared to also be speaking into his comm.

"I think he ditched his comm," he said after a minute.

"Great." I remarked. This mission was going south very fast. "Now what?" I glared at Robin.

"Well…" he knelt down by a destroyed monkey-robot and plugged a wire into it. "We'd've heard by now if the decoy trucks had been attacked, so how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target?" He typed into his wrist-computer. "Ha! The parts have GPS! The monkeys can track the signal, which means I can track them with the one I captured."

Great, now we had a plan. Well, a half-baked plan, but it was better than winging it. "Looked like both part are converging on...Gotham City." _Wait, wasn't that his and Batman's city?_

"Come on," Robin called to me, calling his now one-wheeled motorcycle to him as I hopped back on mine and followed him down the road. I took off what was left of my jacket and threw it into the field beside me. I wouldn't need it where I was going.

I was glad to feel the wind on my wings again, as they had been uncomfortable to hide beneath the jacket. I didn't like how I had to hide them whenever I went out in public unless I was in costume, but thankfully now I had the glamour charm Giovanni Zatara gave me. I looked over to see that Robin had ditched his jacket as well.

Once I could see the outline of a city in the distance, I heard fast footsteps approaching. Really fast footsteps. I looked to my right to see Kid Flash, in his yellow and red costume, running alongside us.

"You changed too?" Robin asked jokingly.

"Oh kidding? Ugh, I feel naked in civvies. You still tracking the parts?" Kid Flash responded.

"They were heading _through_ Gotham, but they veered." The caped boy answered, looking at his motorcycle computer. I was beginning to think he had computers everywhere.

"Wait, dude, they're at my school." He exclaimed.

"School?" I asked, confused. I knew it was a building, but that was about it.

"Y'know, a school. Where kids learn and...stuff. You _seriously_ don't know what a school is?" Kid Flash replied. I shook my head as we came to a stop in front of a building that said "Gotham Academy".

Kid Flash ran on ahead, while me and Robin followed behind. I saw rows of metal containers, but they were smaller and looked different than the containers I was used to. I followed Robin down different hallways, before coming to a set of metal doors.

We went through to find Superboy being dragged away by Kid Flash from some kind of robot-man. This one was different than Mister Twister, though.

Robin threw a couple of exploding-circles at him, but the robot announced Martian Manhunter's name and passed right through them. _Wait, what? What just happened...oh yeah, right. Powers of the whole League._

"ACCESS: RED TORNADO" he flew at us in a tornado, causing me to stumble and be tossed backwards and behind some kind of raised-seat thing along with Kid Flash.

"ACCESS: CAPTAIN ATOM" He raised his hand and I barely had time to duck before he shot out a beam of yellow energy-stuff. I ducked and rolled underneath, making him turn in my direction.

"ACCESS: BLACK CANARY" His mouth opened and suddenly a piercing shriek rang out and I clutched my head in agony as the sound nearly made my sensitive ears bleed. The robot then focused his sonic attack on someone else as I crawled away. I couldn't hear anything right now.

Superboy sent a punch in the robot's direction, but it just caught his fist and sent him flying away with a hit to the face.

I rushed at him, aiming not for his face, but for his shoulder as I tried to do that flipping-leg-sweep that Black Canary did on Superboy, but I couldn't tuck my wings in and the robot caught them and threw me into the raised-seats.

I laid there in my suffering as my wings now hurt more than ever and I was deaf for the time being, not wanting to get up and risk getting hurt more from the robot's attacks. I looked at said opponent just as he stretched his arm out and nearly flattened me, but I leaped on all fours away from him and laid on the seat thing on my stomach, hidden from the battle.

I was content to lay there until it was over and let my teammates take on the robot. _No,_ that little voice in my head spoke up. _You have to fight. They need you. Depend on you. So GET UP!_

I willed myself to prop my body onto my elbows, which sent my back and shoulders into screaming pain. I gritted my teeth.

I thought I heard someone speak, but I still couldn't make out what they were saying against the ringing in my ears.

""It makes me angry!" Superboy's voice reached through the sound. I'm sure it was a yell but it sounded more like a whisper.

I saw Superboy leap up and try to smash Ivo, but the man ran out of the way. _Wait a minute, maybe he has a point…_

"Wanna see me channel that anger?" Superboy said to no one in particular. I followed suit in attacking Ivo and not the robot. Since I couldn't use my wings, I ran towards him and knocked his little monkey-helpers back as they attempted to get Ivo off the ground.

Robin also got the message and kicked the scientist in the back, sending him flying while I ripped the monkeys to pieces.

Kid Flash came zooming in, wanting in on the action no doubt. I had to jump out of the way as the robot slammed his foot on the ground and sent a tremor through the floor in our direction.

I landed on my stomach, and got up again, ready to fight some more now. Robin threw more exploding circles at the robot, which he passed through, but then Superboy dropped in and punched right through the robot's head.

I barely heard an explosion, but saw the action as the robot's head exploded in a fiery display. The body then fell to the ground, unmoving.

Robin moved in to take the robot apart. I started to help but turned as Aqualad and Miss Martian entered my field of view. Miss Martian immediately went to help Superboy. I knew the team was talking about something, but I couldn't hear their voices at normal volume.

"Hey, where's Ivo?" I asked, looking around. The team all looked at me weirdly as Kid Flash moved his mouth, apparently talking to me.

I shrugged apologetically. "Can't hear well," I said, although I didn't have a clue as to what he said back. The ringing was gone, but it wasn't until we returned to the Cave that I could hear words at normal volume again, albeit barely.

We reported back in with Batman, Red Tornado, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, and someone who I assumed to be Green Arrow in the main room. Aqualad relayed the mission, but I only caught every other word or so.

Black Canary also spoke. And then Martian Manhunter. _Gah, why couldn't I hear still?_

Everyone seemed to glance at Superboy, so I did too, although for what I wasn't sure.

Batman stepped up and also said something. This deaf thing was really starting to bother me. "...that's why the League exists. Because there are some problems even we can't handle individually." I finally started to pick up more of Batman's words.

"Please, if we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask." Robin spoke as my hearing slowly got better. He pulled out a green arrow that I hadn't noticed before.

"Look familiar?" He asked. "You were following us, babysitting. You still don't trust us." I picked up more words as he started to raise his voice.

Batman took the arrow and handed it to Green Arrow. _Oh, so_ that's _why he's named that._ "We didn't follow you. The caped man said as Green Arrow took one of his own arrows and compared it to the one Robin had. They looked different.

"And that's not your arrow." Robin remarked. "But that means-"

"Speedy!" Kid Flash spoke up.

"He has our backs." Aqualad chimed in as well. I still wanted to meet this speedy archer guy.

Kid Flash grabbed the arrow from Green Arrow, calling it a "souvenir." I went to the medical wing immediately after that and met with Dr. Richards.

He checked my ears to make sure that they weren't severely damaged. He told me that they should be better by morning. He also checked my wings and back to make sure they were unhurt as well. He seemed to spend longer examining my wings than my ears, but they were probably more damaged, so I didn't say anything.

Once my check-up was done, I retired to my room as I collapsed onto my bed, exhausted.

I was woken up early in the morning by my training day alarm. I groaned in annoyance as my wings and back still hurt. "Ugh, not today…"

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 **A/N: Okay, so I** _ **may**_ **have crammed in a whole episode into one chapter, but to be honest I couldn't find a good splitting point so I just mushed everything into one giant chapter for you all to enjoy.**

 **I'm not sure yet if I want to their chapter to be more filler, tie-in comic-related, or "Infiltrator," but I'm kinda leaning towards more filler. What do you guys think?**

 **Also I love finding new ways to make battles miserable for Hawkgirl. ^_^' #Sorrynotsorry**

 **Reviews, favorites, and followers are always appreciated to keep this story running.**


	14. Chapter 14

The next few days melted together as I went for training, came back to the Cave, had something to eat, watched some show on the TV box, and visied Xavier if I didn't have anything else to do.

We seemed to be growing closer every day, which I was glad for. I liked spending time with him, and he seemed to like hanging out with me.

Dr. Richards said I was getting stronger by the day, but I honestly didn't feel like it. I was eating more, sure, and my wings were growing, but I still felt pretty weak. Especially after my battle with Amazo.

The Hawk's training aslo progressed. I was still getting beat by Hawkwoman in combat practice, but I was getting better at hand-to-hand, and a few days ago she even let us soar with practice maces. I wanted a mace like theirs. I could also now keep myself in the air a lot longer, and had begun to do some basic aerial agility exercises.

One morning, about four or five days after the last mission the team went on, Megan gathered all of us for a day at the beach. I had never really been to the beach before, so I was excited to experience this. The Martian girl said I had to wear my red swimming suit, so I did. I thought about putting my necklace on, but decided against it as I wasn't sure how it would react to water.

"Hello, Megan! We should but the beach every day!" Megan ran out ahead of us, enjoying the warm, clear day.

"First, a moment of silence for our...absent comrade." Robin put his forehead in his palm.

"Poor Wally," Megan hung her head low.

"I wish he could've come with us," I said. I didn't know where he was at the time, but I bet it wasn't as fun as this.

I figured out that morning that my wings did _not_ like getting wet.

I tired going into the ocean slowly, trying to follow everyone's lead of running into the waves, but once I got deep enough so that my wings were partially submerged, I learned that the cold water on my feathers did not feel very pleasant.

Soon, though, I got used to the feeling, as Superboy jumped high into the air and came down with a large splash, sending waves in every direction and soaking my wings.

I also learned there was such a game called "Chicken," as I got up onto Megan's shoulders, with Robin on Aqualad's and I tried to push him down into the water. I wasn't so bad at this game than air hockey, but Robin eventually pulled me down by grabbing my wing.

"Hey, that's not fair!" I called from the water, but I was smiling. I was having a great time.

We also ate lunch at the beach, something called a hot dog, but it was really a type of sausage. I guess "hot sausage" didn't really roll off the tongue as much as "hot dog" did.

I played another game called volleyball with Megan and me against Superboy and Robin, with Aqualad as referee. The goal was to try to hit the ball down on the other team's side, but you can't go outside the lines. We eventually won, and I jumped into the air, spinning with my wings as I had finally won a game. I was also learning a lot about the beach as well.

I was laying out on the sandy shore later, when I realized that Superboy was laying beside me, asleep. I took this opportunity to silently motion to the others, as we gathered buckets and handfuls of sand to cover him while he slept. We got it up to a small mountain before he woke up.

Needless to say, he wasn't very happy. He nearly covered _me_ in sand when he figured out it was my idea. Thankfully, he dint really mean to hurt me and ended up laughing alongside us.

It was well into the afternoon when we decided to call it a day. I showered and washed the sand from my wings and body, and then I put on my red shirt and pants to dry my hair.

When it was almost dark, Batman called us into the main room. I switched into my hero outfit as I wondered what he could have in store for us today.

"Team, this is Artemis," he announced once we were all there except for Wally. "She's Green Arrow's protégé and is going to be joining this team."

He motioned towards a girl that looked a little bit older than me, with a green outfit and mask and long blonde hair. I smiled at her.

"Wait, I thought Speedy was Green Arrow's protégé?" I said, my mouth turning from a smile into a frown. I remembered Robin telling me about Speedy, but I still had yet to meet him.

"He was, until the day we found you and Superboy." Aqualad explained. "Speedy had wanted to be a part of the League, but when he was denied access, he went solo and refused to join this team."

I nodded, understanding. I then walked up to Artemis and introduced myself.

"Hi, I'm Hawkgirl." I said sort of awkwardly with a small smile as we all introduced ourselves to our new teammate. I had a feeling she was going to fit in nicely.

I heard the computer voice announce the arrival of Kid Flash, as theredhead in question came barreling into the main room with lots of beach supplies in his arms.

"The Wall-Man is here!" He exclaimed, running forwards. "Now let's get this party star-"

I winced as he tripped and fell flat in his stomach, causing everything in his arms to spread out away from Wally.

"Ugh, -ted?" He finished awkwardly, seeing all of us in our hero suits.

"Wall-Man, huh?" Artemis spoke up. "Oh, love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?" _Okay, so maybe she won't get along with_ everyone _, but..._

"Uh, who is this?" Wally asked as he got back up, glaring at the blonde.

"Artemis. You're new teammate." She replied with a snarky edge.

"Kid Flash, never heard of you." Wally had the same edge to his voice. I could already feel the tension in the room growing.

"Uh, she's my new protégé." Green Arrow tried to quell the rising argument.

"What happened to your old one?" Wally asked. _I thought he went solo?_

Just then, the Zeta computer announced the name "Speedy" as we all turned to see what became of the hero.

"Well, for starters he doesn't go by "Speedy" anymore." A voice said. "Call me Red Arrow."

My eyes widened in surprise as I finally got to meet this...Red Arrow. He was a lot more...attractive than I thought he would be, with a red shirt that kind of looked like Aqualad's except that it looked better on the archer. I also noticed that he kept his eyes hidden by a mask that looked like Robin's, and he had a red bow strapped to his back. I liked his short red hair.

The room seemed to rise around ten degrees. I averted my eyes as he walked up to confront Green Arrow about something that I didn't catch.

"So why waste time finding a sub?" I liked the sound of his voice even when he was being accusational. "Can she even use that bow?"

"Yes, she can." Artemis spoke up, snapping me out of whatever trance I was in.

"Who are you?" Wally also helped me to snap out of it.

"I'm his niece." "She's my niece." Both Green Arrow and Artemis replied at the same time.

"Another niece?" Robin asked.

"But she is not your replacement." Aqualad stepped up to Red Arrow. "We have always wanted you on the team, and we have no quota on archers." He offered. _Oh, please don't make him join the team._ I was pretty sure I wouldn't even be able to function properly if he did.

"And even if we did, you know who we'd pick." Wally said. _I choose Artemis,_ I thought as the girl in question confronted Wally again.

"Whatever, Baywatch. I'm here to stay." _Thank you,_ I breathed a small sigh of relief. I found my eyes drifting back to Red Arrow, so I once again tried to look at anything in the room but him. It was difficult.

"You came to us for a reason," Aqualad said.

"Yeah, a reason named Dr. Serling Roquette." Red Arrow replied, looking at Robin. _Doctor who? Hehe..._

"Nanorobotics genius and claytronics expert at Royal University in Star City!" The boy exclaimed as pictures appeared of the doctor in question.

"Vanished two weeks ago-"

"Abducted two weeks ago." Red Arrow corrected. "By the League of Shadows." _Wait, so there's_ another _League now?_

"Whoa, you want us to rescue her from the Shadows?" Robin asked.

"I already rescued her." _Whoa, Red Arrow can do that all by himself? So what does he need us for?_ "Leaves only one problem. The Shadows had already coerced her into building a weapon." He showed a picture of some canister, along with a bug-robot. _Not even going to say it..._

"Doc calls it the Fog, comprised of millions of microscopic robots. Nanotech infiltrators, capable of desintifrating anything in their path. Concrete, steel, flesh, bone." As much as I wanted him to keep talking, these robots didn't sound all too friendly.

"But its true purpose inst mere destruction; it's theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system," _thank you for using da-ta,_ "and deliver the stolen intel to the Shadows. Providing them weapons, defense, cutting edge science and tech..."

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking...yeah, sounds like the Shadows." Artemis spoke. _But how did..._

"Like you know anything about the Shadows." Wally said before I could ask. Artemis just glared at him.

"Who are you?!" He shouted. I could tell he was getting frustrated with her.

"Roquette's working on a virus to render the Fog inert." Red Arrow resumed his briefing.

"But if the Shadows know she can do that..." Robin wondered.

"They'll target her. Right now she's off the grid. I've stashed her at the local high school's computer lab." Red Arrow brought up a picture of a school, but it looked different than Gotham Academy.

"You left her there alone?" Green Arrow asked.

"She's safe enough for now." Red Arrow objected. I didn't really think so, but wasn't about to open my mouth against his plan.

"Then let's you and I keep her that way," Green Arrow offered.

"'You and I'? Don't you want to take your new protégé?" Red Arrow asked. Green Arrow was about to reply, but Batman stopped him.

"You brought this to the team. It's their mission, which means it's her's now too." Green Arrow finished.

Red Arrow started to leave. I was conflicted on whether or not I wanted him to. "Then my job's done." He retreated to the Zeta tubes. As the computer called out his old name, Speedy, he interjected. "That's 'Red Arrow,' B06 update." _Wait, you can do that?_

It was late by the time we got to the high school. I was stationed outside with Superboy and Miss Martian, while the rest of the team was inside the school protecting the doctor.

 _"Everyone online?"_ Miss Martian's voice was in my head again. At first I forgot she could do that, but relaxed once I remembered.

 _"Yep,"_ I thought, popping the "p."

 _"Ugh, this is weird."_ Artemis thought.

 _"And distracting."_ I guessed it was Dr. Roquette's voice. _"Coding a distributed algorithm virus on a kiddie computer with less RAM than a wristwatch is hard enough, now I have to hear teen think in my skull?!"_

 _"Okay, you're going to have to slow it down with the big words because I only caught about a fourth of all that,"_ I thought. It wasn't a lie. I heard her mentally groan in response.

 _"Lady, do you always complain when someone tries to help you?"_ Kid Flash asked. Well, more like accused.

 _"Pot, kettle. Have you met?"_ Artemis shot back.

 _"What does any of this have to do with pots?"_ I asked, confused. _"Wait, is this another metaphor-thing?"_

 _"Just let them hash it out,"_ Robin instructed. I did as told and stayed quiet.

 _"Hey, hey, I do not need attitude from the newbie who drove Red Arrow off the team."_ Kid Flash was sounding frustrated again.

 _"That is_ so _not on me."_ Artemis sounded even more frustrated.

I decided to stop focusing on the conversation and peered around the campus, looking for any trouble. I knelt down on a corner of the roof, letting the light breeze ruffle my feathers.

I saw Artemis exit the building and meet with Miss Martian down on the pavement. I decided to stay up on the rooftops for now, in case someone tried to sneak in up here.

 _"Vent, window, vent, window ugh, this job is so boring!"_ I thought as I paced around. Everything was dark, I could hardly see. _"Why did you even put me up here?"_ I asked Aqualad specifically.

 _"We need surveillance from the air. Who better to patrol the rooftops?"_ He asked.

 _"Oh, I don't know, someone who can actually_ see _in this darkness?!"_ I mentally shouted. My eyesight was great in the daytime, but at night I could hardly see two feet in front of my without a light source. And even then it depended on how bright the source was.

 _"Hawkgirl, sometimes I think you have two completely opposite personalities."_ Kid Flsh commented.

 _"And what's it to you if I did?"_ I asked, unknowingly proving his point. I crossed my arms even though no one was there to see me do it.

I heard a rustling in the bushes near Miss Martian and Artemis. Even though my eyesight was the worst, my hearing was now as sharp as ever. I jumped/flew over to above where they were standing to see if they had any sight of whatever made the nise.

Superboy apparently had the same idea, as he jumped over me and landed neatly on the pavement.

 _"Mmh, that boy,"_ I jerked my head up as Artemis's voice rang in my head.

 _"He can hear you, you know. We can_ all _hear you."_ Miss Martian said.

 _"Oh, I know,"_ Artemis replied. I gritted my teeth. So now there's two people after my brother. Great.

 _"Hey, why don't you just go somewhere else,_ away _from my brother?"_ I half-asked, half-demanded.

 _"Miss Martian, Dr. Roquette has located the Fog. Reconfigure the Bio-Ship so that Robin and Superboy can pursue."_ Aqualad commanded.

 _"Hey, why can't I go?"_ I asked, standing up.

 _"You are needed here."_ He replied simply. I watched with envy as the two boys ran into the Bio-Ship, which then departed to who-knows-where.

Now, with Robin gone, I thought it only fair to help protect Dr. Roquette in the computer lab.

 _"Aqualad, I'm coming in there to help."_ I said as I dropped to the ground and ran inside. It was easy enough to find on the first floor, as I switched from waiting outside to waiting inside. At least now I could keep a closer eye on the doctor.

 _"You embarrassed Superboy,"_ Miss Martian accused.

 _"Didn't hear him say that,"_ Artemis responded.

 _"Must you challenge everyone?"_

 _"Where I come from, that's how you survive."_ Her words felt oddly familiar for some reason.

 _"Artemis, where_ did _you come from?"_ I asked.

 _"None of your business,"_ she replied sharply. I decided to keep my mouth -well, thoughts- closed.

I heard footsteps outside. I went to see what it was to find Kid Flash running down the hallway.

 _"Kid, where are you going?"_ I asked, running along his path.

 _"I think there's someone-WOAH!"_ And then he was silent.

 _"Kid? Kid Flash? Wally!"_ I yelled mentally as I ran down the hall to see what happened.

 _"Aqualad, I think-ugh!"_ I was cut off from my message when something sharp hit my back. I immediately felt lightheaded, and I landed roughly on the ground. At least, I think it was the ground. The world seemed to spin, and then I saw nothing but black.

* * *

 **A/N: So I went ahead and decided to write out "Infiltrator." I thought that maybe instead of following the plot of "Denial" and "Downtime" I could go into a little more detail on Hawkgirl's own arc. So, be on the lookout for some dramatic reveals!**

 **Ohoho, "Bereft" is going to be soo much fun for me. I got a special plan in store for that episode. *evil laugh***

 **As always, reviews, followers, and favorites are very much appreciated.**


	15. Chapter 15

I awoke to someone holding my arm. I heard a voice, but couldn't make out the tone or the words.

I reacted to the worst and grabbed whoever's arm was holding me and threw it and the person away from me as I stood and immediately put my arms into a fighting stance.

"Hawkgirl, wait, it me!" I recognized the person as Miss Martian now. I relaxed and apologized to her.

"Oh, Megan, I'm so sorry I thought you were-"

"Hold on, you have something in your-"

"Ow!" I shouted as she pulled whatever was stuck in my back out. It looked like a little dart.

"Come on, Kid Flash is in trouble." She took my wrist and led me down the school hallway to a big water-container-thing. Kid Flash was floating face-down on top of the water.

Miss Martian levitated him out, as my ears picked something up farther away. It sounded like...fighting…

"Miss Martian, you can handle this, right?" I asked as I was running out. She nodded.

I used my wings to boost back into the computer room where I remembered the doctor was. The doctor we were supposed to protect.

Artemis was also there. She had an arrow pointed at someone with a cat mask and green and black clothes.

"Hmm, this gig's getting interesting," the cat-mask persona said as she pulled a sword out and brandished it.

Artemis let a few arrows fly, but the masked person just sliced through them. Now I wished I had some sort of weapon. I decided to go hand-to-hand. Er, hand-to-sword.

I jumped in front of Artemis and used my metal gauntlets to block the person's sword as tiny sparks flew. I sent my fist in her direction, which she dodged, but I surprised her with a slap of my wing and sent her back to the ground.

She stood as I heard Miss Martian and Kid Flash approaching. "Maybe a little _too_ interesting," she mused.

I didn't have time for another attack as she cut another arrow from Artemis and threw a smoke bomb just as Kid Flash lunged for her. I couldn't see what happened, but the assassin was no longer in the building.

"She's getting away, you're letting her get away!" Dr. Roquette shouted angrily.

"And _you_ could've defended yourself as long as we had from her?" I glared at her. She was definitely not grateful to us for saving her life a few seconds ago.

"This is all your fault!" Kid Flash accused Artemis. "You were on perimeter! How'd that Shadow get in?" Artemis didn't answer.

"That's not fair." Miss Martian spoke calmly. "We were outside too." She stood by me.

"Outside, being distracted by her." Kid Flash found a way to point the blame toward Artemis. "Besides, I can't be mad at you," he added, looking back. _"You gave me mouth-to-mouth."_

" _We heard that!"_ Everyone except me responded.

" _What's-"_

" _Don't even ask."_ Artemis interrupted.

"I didn't do half as well during my first battle, and I know you couldn't have been Green Arrow's sidekick for very long." Miss Martian consoled Artemis and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, you should've seen me in my first fight. I passed out, twice, in the span of about three hours." I chimed in. Artemis gave me a confused and surprised look. "I wish I was kidding."

"Focus, everyone," Aqualad took charge. "The Shadows will be back." He appeared to listen to his comm. I guessed it was Robin and Superboy. "Rescan for that Fog. Find it. We're moving the doctor."

I was to be with Aqualad and the doctor with the plan, so I stayed above where Aqualad waited.

I heard a small rustle in the leaves, barely even audible, but I was on high-alert anyway.

The unseen attacker caught me by surprise. He shot some kind of sticky red stuff at me, binding my mouth,body, and wings. I burst out using the edges of my bracers, but the attacker was nowhere in sight or sound.

" _Aqualad, watch out! There's someone in the trees."_ I warned over the psychic link.

I was just a moment too late, as I saw our leader be taken by the attacker. I heard fighting, and as Aqualad was thrown onto the side of a van I rushed to his side. We were both ready for a fight.

The attacker made himself known as he landed in front of us. He had on a purple outfit that made me wonder how he moved in it, as a sound came from behind.

I moved out of the way just as someone with a large hook for a hand slammed his metal hook into Aqualad's back.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that," I threatened, getting into a fighting stance.

He smirked and rushed at me, while I used my wings to push my body backwards. I felt the sticky stuff against my wings again, as I grabbed onto the bit still attached to the purple-guy and pulled him into my fist.

As he lay on the ground, I focused my attention on the hook-man, as he threw the metal piece attached to a chain at me. I jumped over and sent a double kick to the middle of his chest, but he just shrugged the attack off and came at me again with the hook.

Remembering the plan, I feigned surprise as the metal hook collided with my chin, sending me crashing to the ground. My head hurt, but I was still conscious as I pretended not to be.

"The Martian could return at any second and I'm not keen on evening their odds. We end Roquette, _now._ " I heard the voice of the masked-cat-lady, and heard three pairs of footsteps retreating.

I groaned, rubbing my head once they were safely out of my hearing range. I stood again and looked at Aqualad, who nodded in silent command to continue with the plan.

While the three assassins were busy with Kid Flash, Artemis, and "Dr. Roquette," Aqualad and I would be busy guarding the real doctor in a small store down the street. I stationed myself by the doctor's side, scanning every inch of the place and keeping my ears open for any trouble.

"I've almost got it!" She exclaimed. Good. We were running out of time, and fast.

"Footsteps approaching, and fast." I told Aqualad as soon as I heard the titular sound. I steeled myself, ready for any assassin this League of Shadows brought. "Up on the roof."

"Uploading now!" Dr. Roquette said. "And by the way, you said you'd protect me!" I kept my eyes out for whoever was on the roof, ignoring her biting comment.

I heard something rolling behind me before I saw it. It was like what the masked-cat-lady used to escape us the first time.

"Get behind me," I instructed to the doctor. For once, she listened. I got into a fighting stance as I listened for the assassin's footsteps.

They never came. Instead of footsteps, I heard a whizzing sound, and then Aqualad suddenly had three darts that looked like what Miss Martian pulled out of my back in his chest.

"Let's test the limit of your jellyfish immunity, shall we?" She hummed. _Jellyfish what-now?_

We both rushed at her, Aqualad with his water-swords and me with my gauntlets. She dodged Aqualad's attempt, and used my punch motion to throw me in his direction, knocking us both down to the floor. Aqualad didn't get up, and his swords reverted back into water.

I shook my head and stood again, readying myself.

"Well, aren't you a new face?" The masked-cat-lady mused. She rushed towards me, bringing out a small dagger-thing from her belt. "Let's see if _you're_ any better than your friends."

I said nothing, but blocked her attack with my bracers and used my free leg to unbalance her. She jumped back up after a split-second, and slashed at me with her dagger. I either dodged or blocked the attacks, but I could feel her advancing on the doctor. I wasn't going to let her.

She sliced at the air one more time, but before I could react she sent a flying kick straight at my face. I felt the kick connect and flew to the side.

Before I could right myself again, I was caught by my wing, which made my bad shoulder scream out in pain, and was thrown against the wall.

I felt a searing stab of pain when I realized the assassin had dug her dagger into my wing, pinning me against the wall. It hurt to move at all, and I was forced to watch as she turned and stalked towards Dr. Roquette. "Now doctor, time for my appointment." She said.

"No!" I shouted in vain as the masked-cat-lady produced another dagger and pointed it at the doctor. I tried in vain to pull the dagger out, but every move I made sent jolts of pain through my wing.

I looked at the computer as I heard a sound, as did the assassin.

"So you've finished the virus, eliminating the reason for your elimination." She pointed her dagger at the doctor. "Though _not_ the entertainment value."

"Don't!" I begged, leaning helplessly against the wall. She glanced at me, then threw the Doctor onto the ground and pointed her dagger.

"Lucky for you, my orders were clear. You live to program another day. After all, doctor, the Shadows may find another use for you." And then she simply walked away.

I leaned there, unable to sit or move very much because of the dagger. My head reeled. My wing hurt. My heart beat furiously against my chest. I had survived an assassination attempt, _and_ protected their target. All in all, I'd say that was a win. Now, if only I could get this stupid hurting dagger out…

I dared to grab onto the handle. As I friended my teeth, I yanked the weapon out of my wing and collapsed on the ground. I looked the dagger over. It had blood on it, but otherwise it was a perfect specimen. I decided to wash it off once I was back at the Cave and keep it for now. I _did_ need a weapon, and this seemed quite versatile.

I heard something outside. I placed my hand over the small hole in my wing and knelt down next to Aqualad.

"Aqualad, Kaldur, wake up." I gently nudged his side. I felt and heard him come to, and he sat up.

"Hawkgirl, where's-"

"Dr. Roquette is fine," I said, moving to the side so that Aqualad could see for himself.

"But you let the assassin get away." She accused at me.

I frowned. I've had about enough with her complaining. "Well, excuse me for having _this_ ," I held up the bloody dagger, "stabbed into my wing, pinning me against the wall, and making me immobile unless I wanted to be in excruciating pain."

The doctor was silent, but glaring, as we all turned to the door. I put the dagger in my belt and helped Kaldur walk outside as Artemis was standing there, staring into the distance.

"Artemis, where's the assassin?" Kaldur asked.

"She uh, she got away." She sounded ashamed. I looked off down the road, wondering where she could've gotten to.

"Oh, from you?" Kid Flash caught up to us with Miss Martian close behind. I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing that the two of them alone together was a bad combination. "Oh, big surprise. Notice, we got ours."

"Don't feel bad, Artemis." I put my free hand on her shoulder and smiled at her. "It's not your fault Wally is a big jerk." I glared back at the kid in question, using his real name on purpose, as he narrowed his eyes back at me. He then looked down at the ground at the assassin's mask, which I hadn't noticed before.

"Cool, souvenir." He said, picking it up.

"Her mask. Did you see her-her face?" Kaldur asked, pulling the darts from his chest. I winced. It must've hurt.

"It was dark," was all Artemis said. I figured she must've fired at the assassin and managed to knock her mask off, but the masked assassin was too fast to see and got away. I was proud of myself for figuring the fight out.

"It is fine. Robin and Superboy neutralized the Fog, and Dr. Roquette is safe. Thanks in no small part to you." Kaldur said. Artemis turned to face us. "Welcome to the team."

I couldn't hold in my excitement any longer, and walked as fast as I could without my wing hurting to embrace my new teammate. Artemis was surprised at first, but then returned the gesture.

"Sorry, I've been told I'm a hugger." I apologized with a smile once I ended the hug. Artemis gave a small smile.

"It-it's fine, really." Kaldur and Megan also came up, as Kaldur gave her a handshake.

"I've always wanted a sister. Well, here on Earth I mean. I have twelve back on Mars, but trust me, it's not the same." She said, then gave a apologetic glance at me. "Uh, no offense."

I shook my head. "It's alright." I considered Superboy to be my only sibling, with the rest of the team like a group of super-close friends.

"I...wouldn't know." Artemis replied to Megan. "But, thanks."

Megan beat me to hit Wally's side, as he begrudgingly welcomed Artemis to the group as well. She offered her hand as the two shook, and we all started walking back to Mount Justice. I was glad for the short walk, I didn't think my wings or feet could take much more.

Once we were back inside, the rest of the team went to the Zeta tubes as I went to the kitchen to wash my new weapon off.

I liked how, once it was clean, it seemed to gleam in the light. It looked dangerous, and I was glad the weapon was now in my hands instead of the assassin's. I tried a couple of practice swings with it, liking how lightweight it was, and yet it was powerful enough to cut through my wing and into the wall.

The thought of the stab wound sent a new shock of pain, as I stumbled forward a bit, leaning with my hands on my knees. I went to the medical room, but since it was late into the night -or early in the morning?- Dr. Richards wasn't there.

I guessed I first had to close up the wound so it could heal properly, so I found a roll of what I thought could be used to block the bleeding, and wrapped the white material around my wing as I tucked it in so it wasn't in an awkward position.

I surveyed my work. I figured Dr. Richards would be back tomorrow, so I could see him then. Until tomorrow, however, I guessed the wrapping would have to do. It still hurt, but the pain had subsided once I wrapped my wing, and I opened the door to my room.

Collapsing onto the bed and not even bothering to pull the sheets over me, I promptly fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Don't you just** _ **love**_ **it when writers torture their characters? I know I do. *innocent smile***

 **Filler chapters set during "Denial" and "Downtime" will be the next 2-4 chapters, depending on how long I want it to run.**

 **Reviews, followers, and favorites are all still appreciated.**


	16. Chapter 16

I Zeta'd to Washington D.C. for my training the next morning, without my necklace but plus my hero gear. Both Hawks thought it would be beneficial to train with the added weight and more limited movement, and I agreed.

As I made the way to the gym as I had done many times before, I thought back to the first time I had been there. It was hard to imagine now that I had gotten lost in the hallways that seemed so familiar now, or that I had passed out after a training day that seemed so routine now.

"Morning, Hawkgirl," Hawkwoman greeted as I opened the door. I smiled at her in return.

"Oh, I have something to show you." I remembered my new weapon, and was itching to test it out. "Look," I produced the dagger. Both Hawks looked a little surprised to see the weapon.

"I got it from an assassin that I fought against after she stabbed me in the wing with it and left me pinned against the wall." I explained like I had taken an afternoon stroll.

Hawkwoman was the first to speak. "It's...unconventional."

"But acceptable." Hawkman added about the weapon. I knew they knew that the hero life was dangerous business, so they didn't ask about how I got the dagger.

Hawkwoman readied herself and Hawkman stepped back to give us room as we began sparring. We started with hand-to-hand like always.

I still threw the first punch, as I dug my heels and stopped Hawkwoman from throwing me to the ground as she grabbed my fist. I pulled my hand back and used that motion to go into a spinning kick, which my opponent ducked under.

I jumped above her leg sweep, but I forgot about my bandaged wing and fell back to the ground as I tried to fly higher. I didn't think I'd ever made myself fall to the ground during training before.

I was barely breaking a sweat, though, as we continued to spar. I was knocked to the ground once from being thrown, twice from Hawkwoman getting a hit in, and once from a leg sweep.

Hawkwoman offered a hand when I once again hit the ground, which I gladly took. She produced two practice maces, but I denied mine and instead brandished my new dagger. She dropped her own weapon then taught me some basic moves with mine. I learned to jab, block, and parry, and some moves I can mix with regular hand-to-hand.

Hawkwoman and I sparred some more, with weapons this time, as I practiced with both my dagger, which was apparently called a sai, and a practice mace. The sai was exceptionally cool, but I had always wanted a mace like the Hawks had.

I was panting slightly and sweating but he end of our session, with Hawkman letting me skip flying practice until my wing healed.

I walked back to the Zeta tube, but instead of going to the Cave, I went to the place I was sure Dr. Richards would be: Central City.

As I stepped out into the lab room, I found my way to the small room that served as Dr. Richards' office. I knocked on the door and slowly opened it without listening for a reply.

I wished I _had_ listened. Xavier was sitting on the table-mat with no Dr. Richards in the room, with a rag pressed over his right eye. I stared from the doorway, not sure what had happened.

"Tabitha?" He seemed surprised to see me. His uncovered eye opened wide upon seeing me. "Uh, w-wh-what are you doing here?" He threw the rag at the desk and shielded whatever happened to his eye with his bangs.

I looked on in shock. "Xavier...what happened?" I asked softly. He turned away from me to better hide his face.

"Nothing, really. You-you should get going." He hopped down and turned to the desk, standing in front of it.

I stepped toward him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What happened?" I asked again, with a little more force in my voice than before.

He sighed in defeat, lowering his tense shoulders and faced me. He pulled his hair back so I could see his injury. The area around his right eye was a sickly black, purple, and red mixture, and it looked swollen. My own eyes widened in surprise as he picked the rag back up.

"Xavier, who did this to you?" I asked, taking the wet, cold rag from his hand and pressed it against his eye. He winced at the pressure, so I pulled it away.

He exhaled and gave a small smile, but refused to answer my question. He put his hand over mine and helped me apply the right amount of pressure to his wound.

"...thank you." He said quietly. I smiled, which he returned.

"You're welcome." I replied. I saw him look behind me at my wings.

"It's a...long story." I said as he raised his eyebrow, silently asking about my bandaged wing.

"Well, we have time, I think." He glanced at the clock on the wall.

It was my turn to sigh. "Well, it all started when a new teammate showed up…" I began, going into the story of the assassin, the doctor, and our mission. I left out the Red Arrow part, saying it was Batman who gave us the mission. I'm not entirely sure why, though.

"...so then Aqualad was down, and I had to fend off this masked assassin by myself. I didn't do so well." I explained. "It was going well for a while, but then she threw me against the wall and stuck this in my wing, pinning me down." I showed him the sai. He seemed shocked that I had made it through that.

"So then…"

"Yep. Right through my wing. Still hurts." I moved the shoulder joint up and down so he could see the bandages.

"But the assassin didn't kill the doctor because she had uploaded the virus at that moment, so she left. Just like that." I finished.

Xavier didn't seem like he knew how to react. "Woah…" he breathed after a moment. "So you defeated an _assassin?_ "

I shook my head. "Oh no, I completely lost to her. But I'm getting better. And now I have her sai."

"Sounds pretty dangerous."

"Yeah, but it comes with the job. Plus, I'm fine now," I started to unwrap my wing to see how it had healed. "Well, mostly."

Xavier offered his hand. "Here, let me." I turned around so he could unwrap the messy bandages. It was a little weird-feeling at first as his hand trailed my feathers, he was done pretty fast. I stretched my wing to see how far it could go, as I got it about halfway before it started hurting again.

I inspected where the home used to be, and found that it had closed up on its own in the night. I wasn't about to do much physical activity with my wings, so that was a good sign.

"Well, you still need to prevent infection." Xavier said when I voiced my thoughts. He got down from the table-mat and got some clear liquid, a cotton pad, some sort of paste-stuff, and some more bandages.

He first put the liquid on the wound, which stung badly, but he said it helped with infection. I nearly broke the edge of the table-mat holding on so hard.

He then put the paste-stuff on the cotton pad and pressed it against the now-clean wound, and held it in place with the bandages.

"Thank you," I said after he was done.

"It's nothing, really. Just a simple bandage." He dismissed my thanks as he pressed the rag up against his eye again. I wondered why he always seemed to reject my thanks.

"Still, you didn't have to. So thank you." I remarked. He seemed to accept my thanks this time as I started towards the door.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" I asked, turning back. He nodded.

I wasn't really convinced. I gave him a small hug before I left, and walked down the hallway to the Zeta tube and toward home.

The next day, after training, Hawkman had an interesting proposition for me. "Hawkgirl, how would oh like to come back to the city with us and patrol with us?"

I practically jumped at the offer. I couldn't stop smiling as I accepted in the calmest voice I could muster. I was going to patrol with Hawkman and Hawkwoman! It was a dream come true.

Hawkman gave a look at Hawkwoman, who exhaled deeply and said, "but this isn't permanent. It's just a...trial run."

My spirits sank a little bit, but I was still excited. I couldn't exactly fly as I had before, but I was leaping and gliding all the way to the Zeta tube.

Their city turned out to be somewhere called Chicago that had lots of tall building that I wanted to fly around. The two Hawks took off into the air effortlessly, but I still had to leap up onto buildings and climb up into the sky the hard way.

They did fly slow for me to keep up, but I was still jealous that my wings still didn't work all the way.

The Hawks showed me the ins and outs of patrolling, which included a lot of watching, waiting, and flying around the city. The flying part sort of made up for the others, but I wanted to find some action.

I soon found some. Hopping onto a building, my ears picked up an alarm sounding. Hawkman and Hawkwoman also seemed to hear it too, and we all flew through the streets to see what had happened.

I saw a couple of people in dark clothing with only their eyes and mouths visible, holding guns and bags of something. I leaped down to the street, running below Hawkman and Hawkwoman, who kept flying above.

I caught one guy's attention, as I spread my wings and jumped forward and knocked the gun out of his hand first.

"Try again later when you have a concealed carry license," I heard Hawkwoman engage the other guy behind me and I felt better. I caught the masked man's weak punch and tossed him back into the shop where he escaped. I launched forward as he got back up, and hit him over the head with my wing.

"Tch, almost too easy." I remarked and turned back to Hawkwoman. "Come on, give me a challenge!"

We were back up in the air shortly after, and I was back to running along the rooftops. I didn't feel tired though. I felt _alive._

We stopped a couple more robberies, before I heard something else coming from a bridge.

"Drop your weapons, or we will open fire!" Someone was talking through a megaphone.

"Come over here and make us, pigs!" Someone yelled back. We decided to check the commotion out.

There seemed to be a stand-of between some gang and the police that we saw perching on the corner of a building. I was about to rush in, but Hawkman stopped me with a hand.

"Wait, we don't want a firefight." _That's_ exactly _what I want!_ He nodded to Hawkwoman, who leaped off the edge and flew behind the thugs.

I followed her lead, going in stealthy, and took out two guys diving with my wings, before using my sai to disarm another person's handgun and threw the gun at another's head, as I made the first guy double over with a punch and send him to the ground with a hit from my knee.

I brought my arm up to block a gunshot from another person. I was about to rush him too, but Hawkwoman beat me to him and knocked him out with her mace.

I looked over to the police, who had begun to move in as Hawkman took the last few of the men.

With Justice apparently restored to the bridge, I was about to jump back to the city when I saw something on the ground. It looked like...shadows?

I glanced back at Hawkman and Hawkwoman, wondering what could be happening, as they seemed to be ready for a fight. I wasn't.

I heard a laugh. An eery, ghost-like laugh that felt like a cold wind moving through the air, although it was still summer.

"Hello, Hawkman…Hawkwoman…" the voice sounded like it was coming from all directions at once. I then looked at the middle of the bridge to see some sort of man that was made of dark, see-through stuff. _Wait, was he-_

"Oh, who's this?" The man turned to me. I could tell he was staring even though he had no eyes. I fell silent at his presence.

"So, the mighty Hawkman finally took on a little kid to help him around." He looked like he was smiling and eyeing me like a predator would. "I will say this…" he lifted his hand, where he flicked his wrist and his fingers turned into razor-sharp claws on his command. "I've been in the need for a new punching bag!"

He lunged at me. I couldn't seem to move. Thankfully, Hawkwoman split his shadowy form with her mace, as he reconstructed himself behind me.

All at once, my brain went into overdrive, as I used a burst from my wings to fly backwards as the shadow-man lunged at me again. When he kept up the chase, I slashed at him with my sai, but it had little effect compared to Hawkwoman's mace. I raced along the bridge, using my wings to stay barely ahead of the shadow-man.

Hawkman then fell from above and occupied the man while I hid behind a police car. I had to rethink my strategy. From what I could see from the battle, physical attacks weren't going to work on the shadow-man. _So what_ did _work on a shadow?_

I also managed to see that each attack broke the man's form like wind before reassembling. That gave me an idea. I began looking for a makeshift weapon.

"Hey, Shadow Man!" I yelled, jumping from my hiding place and catching his attention.

"That's Shadow Thief to you, whelp!" He shouted and then lunged. I sidestepped his attack, beating my wings to escape. As he neared the side of the bridge, I lifted to end of a rock divider and tossed it at him with all my strength.

It disoriented him for a moment, but the concrete slab passed through him as he tilted his head in silent question. I started leaping again.

 _Well, that definitely didn't work,_ I thought calmly, contrasting the chaos I was currently in. I dashed behind another car as I rethought my strategy again. Hawkman and Hawkwoman weren't faring much better, as the Shadow Thief seemed to pass through every attack. Except for their maces…

I figured it out. Somehow their maces disrupted the Shadow Thief more than regular attacks did. I wondered what I had to do to get my hands on a mace like theirs.

I immediately regretted thinking that, as the Shadow Thief overpowered Hawkwoman, disarmed her, and sent her flying back against the car next to where I was. I ran over to see if she was alright.

She was alive as I heard her breathing, but I couldn't do anything before I was caught in some kind of shadow-rope thing that held my body and wings tight. My injured wing burned in protest. I struggled to escape, as the Shadow Thief came nearer to me.

"Let this be a lesson to you. No one. Messes. With the Shadow Thief, child." He said, his voice a calm dissonance.

I bared my teeth at him. "I'm not a child, ink-man." That seemed to anger him. Unfortunately, it also made him tighten my restraint.

"You won't hurt her!" Hawkman's voice shouted, and then he swung his mace at the Shadow Thief, who was caught off-guard. His shadow form was cut in half as his body went flying backwards and released me from the shadow-rope.

With new energy, I braced myself to face the Shadow Thief again as he got up, still in his shadow form. I saw Hawkwoman's mace laying on the ground from where she dropped it a few feet away from me.

"I don't understand, why waste your time beating up a small, helpless child like me?" I feigned innocence as I drifted closer to the weapon on the ground. The Shadow Thief seemed to already know I was heading for it, though, as he slapped it away with a shadow hand.

I dashed for it, as the man followed, although he had more difficulty than me because of Hawkman.

I reached the mace first, and grabbed the handle like it was my practice mace. It weighed about the same.

With my new weapon, I launched myself at the Shadow Thief, swinging the mace furiously. This man had hurt my mentors, and now he was going to deal with me.

I sent a powerful hit to the Shadow Thief's head, which made him fly backwards.

"I never introduced myself, Shadow Thief," I said as I stood over his weak and defeated form, raising the mace above my head. "I am the Hawkgirl, a clone born from the DNA of Hawkman and Hawkwoman. And don't. You. _Forget it."_ I snarled the last bit, and brought Hawkwoman's mace down on his chest, making his shadow form disperse into a bunch of small shadow tendrils that escaped back into the city.

I panted lightly from the battle, although I was largely unhurt. My wing burned, but that wasn't anything new.

I walked back to Hawkwoman, who was currently resting against a police car, as I returned her mace.

"You fought well, Hawkgirl," she complimented. She shook her head as I tried to give her the mace. "Keep it, you earned it."

I was shocked. "But this is the yours-"

"And now I pass it to you." She sat up to place her hand on mine on the handle, closing my fingers around the grip. "Today you fought like a true Thanagarian. I'd be honored for you to have this weapon." She smiled at me for perhaps the first time, as I couldn't help but smile back.

"But, what'll you use now?" I asked, concerned, as she stood.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I don't need a weapon to beat you in training." She replied with an edge I've become used to hearing during training.

"Come on, let's get you home, and you back to the Cave." Hawkman spoke, referring to Hawkwoman and myself. We walked until we were completely off the bridge, and the Hawks took flight and I scaled a building to get back to the Zeta tube.

 _I can't wait to tell the team about this,_ I thought as I felt the weight of my new weapon in my hand as I jumped the rooftops of Chicago.

* * *

 **A/N: Here, have some filler feat. the Hawkfamily and Xavier. \\(^_^)/**

 **I think I am going to follow "Denial" since it takes some time after "Infiltrator" so the days during episode and filler chapters wouldn't bleed together. I will do some of Hawkgirl's own arc during "Downtime," though, since that's kind of the nature of the B-plot.**

 **As always, reviews, followers, and favorites are greatly appreciated.**


	17. Chapter 17

It was a few days after our battle with the Shadow Thief, and I was feeling restless again. I'd gone back to Chicago a few times with the Hawks, but no one besides petty criminals ever showed. I wanted some bug action, like a mission from Batman. By the looks of my teammates, they were feeling the same way.

After a morning of training with the Hawks, I went back through the Zeta tube to the Cave to find Kaldur and Superboy sparring, with Artemis, Wally, and Megan watching on the side. I stepped up to hear the girls having a conversation.

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" I wondered, standing beside Megan.

They both looked at me a bit weirdly, and then Megan gasped loudly, making me flinch slightly. I glanced around to see what was wrong.

"I think you and Robin would look _great_ together," she finally said. _Wait, together?_

"Yeah,you should so ask him out." Artemis agreed. I was still confused.

"What are you guys talking about?" I nearly shouted I was so frustrated with them. _Wait a minute…_

"Wait, you actually think I _like_ Robin?" I guessed. It seemed like I was right from their knowing expressions.

"Why not? I mean he's smart, funny-"

"Immature, overconfident, and keeps _way_ too many secrets." I finished Artemis's statement. She raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to reply, but the arrival of Red Tornado into the Cave from above stopped her.

"Do you have a mission for us?" Wally asked, running up to the robot.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility." He answered in his typical deadpan. It didn't bother me as much as before, seeing as how he didn't have much choice as to what his voice sounded like, but it did still strike a nerve as to how robotic he sounded.

"Yeah, well, the Batman's with the Robin doing the "dynamic duo" thing in Gotham. But _you're_ headed somewhere, right?" Wally asked, pointing his fingers at Red Tornado. "Hot date, or a miss-ion?" _Hot date? What was that?_

"If we can be of help," Aqualad added respectfully.

Red Tornado was silent for a moment, and then turned and opened a screen, showing someone I had never seen before.

"This is Kent Nelson. A friend. He is 106 years old." Red Tornado began.

"Guy doesn't look a day over ninety," I overhead Wally whisper to Artemis.

"And he has been missing for 23 days." Red Tornado continued with his mission. "Kent was a charter member of the Justice Society, the precursors to your mentor's Justice League." The image changed to someone a lot younger, with a yellow helmet and cape. I wanted a cape like that.

"Of course, Nelson was Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. He was Doctor Fate." Kaldur said. _Sorcerer Supreme? Doctor Fate?_ There were too many names I didn't know.

"Pssh, more like 'Doctor Fake.' Guy knows a little advanced science and Dumbledore's it up to scare the bad guys and impress the babes." Wally whispered again. _And again with the words and names I don't know._

"Kent may simply be on one of his...walkabouts," I turned my attention back to Red Tornado. "But he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the doctor's mystic might, and it is unwise to leave such power unguarded." Red Tornado finished his briefing. I was glad I still wore my hero gear from training.

"He is like the great sorcerer priests and priestesses of Mars. I would be honored to help find him." Megan spoke up. I wondered what the "sorcerer priests and priestesses" were.

"Me too!" Wally's voice rang out as I turned to the redhead. "So honored, I can barely stand it. Magic rocks." He held up some kind of sign with his hands. I was confused.

"Wait, didn't you just say-"

"How much I love the Mystic Arts? Yeah, you're right, Tabi, I can't keep my mouth shut about it." Wally interrupted me. I shot a look back at Artemis, who wore a similar expression.

"Take this," Red Tornado said. He handed Kaldur some sort of key. "It is the key to the Tower of Fate."

"What are the chances you and I both so admire the Mystic Arts?" Wally asked Megan specifically. I raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior.

We all were flying in the Bio-Ship in no time, heading outside the Cave. I was the only one who had my hero outfit on, but I wasn't bothered by it. I looked out the window into the dark night, secretly wishing I was flying out there instead of inside the ship.

"So, Wally, when did you first realize your _honest_ affinity for sorcery?" Artemis asked. I patiently awaited his next lie.

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but before I was Kid Flash, I seriously considered becoming a wizard myself." I rolled my eyes. Why was he acting so strangely? It didn't make sense.

"We've reached Tornado's coordinates." Megan announced as we came upon a clearing with a giant stone tower in the middle.

"Nothing's there." Superboy said. I was confused again.

"Yeah, there is." I said, pointing out the window. "There's a giant tower right there."

Everyone gave me a weird look. "I swear I can see it. Look!" We touched down. I was out first, making a grand arm gesture to the tower they seemed to be oblivious to.

Wally lapped the tower, coming back to us and giving his report. "Nothing. This isn't simply camouflage."

"So, what do you think? Adaptive micro-optic electronics combined with phase-shifting?" Artemis asked. I had no idea what those were.

"Absolutely-not!" Wally interjected as Megan stood beside him. "Clearly mystic powers are at work here."

I didn't realize everyone was looking at me until Kaldur stepped up and handed me the key from Red Tornado. "Here. Perhaps you can open the Tower." I took it and weighed it in my hand.

I turned back to the tower, noticing a large door that had a keyhole on the side. I cautiously stepped up and inserted the key into the hole as it unlocked the door.

Everyone gasped behind me. I figured that the key must've lowered whatever camouflage-spell thing the tower had around it.

The door opened by itself into an empty room. I tried to walk in, but something stopped me. Something pulled at my waist, and as I looked down I realized my mace wasn't coming along with me. Some kind of force field-spell thing kept the weapon from entering the tower.

I undid the loop that kept it in place and left it at the door, figuring I wouldn't really need it if we're just looking for some doctor. Besides, I still had my sai and training in hand-to-hand as well.

"Uh, where'd the door go?" Superboy asked once we were all inside. I looked back as, sure enough, that door had vanished.

"Greetings." A voice made me turn back. A man that looked like the picture of Kent Nelson appeared. He looked like some sort of hologram. "You have entered with a key, but the Tower does not recognize you. Please state your name and intent."

"We're-"

"We are true believers, here to find Doctor Fate." Wally interrupted me for perhaps the third time that day.

I heard cracking. _That can't be good,_ I thought. The floor then gave way, straight towards a pool of seating lava. I instinctively spread my wings to act as a parachute, but the rest of my friends were in danger. I swooped to the side and clung to the wall as Artemis shot a grappling hook from her crossbow, Megan levitated Wally, and Superboy slid down the side.

"Superboy!" I shouted down as he got dangerously close to the boiling liquid and stopped inches from the top.

"Those...were my favorite boots. This Nelso guy better be worth it." He remarked. _Right, Kryptonian,_ I thought as to how he survived the heat.

"Having trouble...maintaining altitude," I saw Megan struggling to keep herself and Wally aloft. "Ugh, I'm so hot."

"You certainly are." Wally replied.

"Wally!" Artemis and I shouted at the same time.

"Hey, inches above sizzling death, in entitled to speak my mind!" He shouted back.

"Hold on, Megan, I'm coming." I spread my wings and angled them downwards to help the Martian.

"My physiology and M'gann's are susceptible to extreme heat. We must climb out quickly." Kaldur commanded. I held onto Megan's shoulders as I tried to keep all three of us from sinking into the lava. I beat my wings as hard as I could, but it didn't have much more effect.

"Hello, Megan! We never truly answered the question." Megan said. "Red Tornado sent us, to see if Mr. Nelson, and the Helmet, were safe." She called out to the Tower.

At once, a metal plate slid over the floor, as I let go of Megan as she levitated Wally and herself down safely.

I dropped to the floor as well, following her and Superboy. Artemis and Kaldur joined us soon as well. It felt strange that my feet weren't heating up beyond room temperature standing on the metal plate that blocked lava from below.

"This platform. It should be red-hot, but it is cool to the touch." Kaldur commented, stopping down and feeling the metal with his webbed hands.

"Don't worry Megalicious, I got ya." Wally wrapped his arm around said Martian.

"Enough!" Artemis cried out at the redhead. She walked up and forced him back against the wall with her hand. "Your little impress-Megan-at-all-costs game nearly got us all barbecued." She accused. My eyes widened at her display, but I wasn't complaining.

"When did this become _my_ fault?" Wally asked.

"When you _lied_ to that, whatever it was, and called yourself a _true believer._ "

"Wally, you don't believe?" Megan asked. She sounded a little hurt. _Oh don't tell me she_ believed _him…_

"Fine! Fine, I lied about believing in magic." Wally admitted. "But magic is the real lie! A major load."

"Wally, I studied for a year at the Conservatory of Sorcery in Atlantis. The Mystic Arts created the skin icons that power my waterbearers." Kaldur interjected. _Oh, so that's why he has those tattoos._

"Dude, you ever hear of bioelectricity?" Wally explained. "Hey, in primitive cultures, _fire_ was once considered magical too. Now it's all a bunch of tricks."

"You're pretty close-minded for a guy who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers," Artemis remarked.

"That's _science._ I recreated Flash's laboratory experiment and here I am. _Everything_ can be explained by science." He replied.

"Let us test that theory, Kaldur said, holding a handle on the floor.

"Wait! The backdraft from the lava'll roast us alive-" he started to protest, but as Kaldur opened the hatch, I saw it was frozen inside. _But that didn't make sense,_ I thought, then shrugged. _Magic, I guess._

"It's snow," Megan commented in delight.

"Have you never seen snow before?" I asked her.

"Sometimes, on the tapes my uncle sent from Earth while I was still on Mars."

"Do you _ever_ get tired of being wrong?" Artemis asked Wally, who frowned. I followed the others and jumped down into the frozen land. The place seemed oddly familiar, in a weird way. I was sure I'd never been here before, but the snow and the mountains in the distance reminded me of something…

"So? What about this?" Artemis asked Wally.

"Ever hear of String Theory? We're in a pocket dimension." He explained. Artemis groaned in frustration.

"Hey Wally? What do you have to say about my wings?" I asked, seeing if he could explain them.

"There's this thing called transgenetics, Hawkey. Also, you're a clone of Hawkman and Hawkwoman, of course you have wings like them." he answered. I narrowed my eyes.

"Alright, explain that." I pointed to a cane floating in the distance. He pretended to think for a moment.

"A magnetized anti-grav field built into the cane," he answered, rushing forwards at the same time as Artemis.

"I got it," both said at the same time. "I can't let go!" I stared open-mouthed and wide-eyed as they were lifted off the ground and disappeared along with the cane to who knows where.

"Wally! Artemis!" I jumped up and pumped my wings to see if they were still in the area, but even my enhanced vision couldn't spot the DUP against the snow and rock.

"Nowhere. They're not around here." I landed and told the others the bad news. "We have to find them. They could be in trouble." I started down the snowy path to find them, until Megan grabbed my wrist.

"Tabitha, we can find them with Mr. Nelson. And even if we don't, he can lead us to them." She calmed me down with her words. I nodded in agreement, remembering our mission.

"Then let us continue our mission." Kaldur took the lead as we walked in the snow.

"I don't understand Wally." Megan said after a few minutes. "It's almost like he needs to believe the impossible can't happen."

"Wally uses his understanding of science to control what he cannot comprehend." Kaldur answered. "To acknowledge the existence of magic would be to relinquish the last vestige of that control." I hardly got any of what he said, but I nodded anyway.

"Superboy?" I glanced behind me at the stoic clone. "Are you alright? You've barely said anything since we got here." I was wondering if he was worrying about Superman again.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." He grumbled in reply. I looked toward Megan, who mirrored my own worried expression.

I heard a door creak open, and then suddenly there was an open door standing on top of a mountain peak.

"Maybe that's where we'll find the others," I thought out loud, flying ahead of the others and into the doorway.

I wasn't prepared to land on the ground once I exited the snowy place, and promptly fell flat on my stomach. I looked up to see a giant bell of some kind. Wondering where I was now, I stood up as I heard a _ding_ sound. Looking for the source, I saw one wall had been turned into an elevator, what I now knew the moving room was called.

Wally and Artemis were already there, along with someone who looked like Kent Nelson. I figured it must be him.

"Mr. Nelson, you're okay!" I exclaimed as We met near the bell.

"Course I am, now who might you be?" He asked.

"My name is Hawkgirl," I replied automatically, forgetting my real name for a second.

I looked to see Kaldur, Superboy, and Megan also come through the ceiling door, with everyone falling like I had except for Megan, who floated with her powers.

"Friends of yours?" Mr. Nelson asked.

I heard the electricity zap a second too late. I tried to move out of the way, but I was caught with a lightning bolt shot from something or someone I didn't know.

"Friends of _yours_?" Wally asked. I guessed it was to Mr. Nelson.

The shock ended a second later, as a person with a white shirt and a little black sand-thing shot a bolt at Wally and Mr. Nelson. I also saw someone dressed in black with a cat.

Mr. Nelson hit the giant bell from before with his cane, which made it glow. I watched in surprise as Wally and him walked through the bell to...somewhere. I decided to follow.

" _Megan, in going after Wally and Mr. Nelson,"_ I said, hoping she had a psychic link up.

" _Acknowledged."_ Kaldur answered. _"We will keep him busy."_ I realized the kid with the cat had also gone through the bell, and I quickly gained speed and came barreling through the magic bell.

I ended up in an open area, with everyone already there.

"No!" I heard someone tell. It was the kid with the cat, although he didn't have his cat at the moment. I also saw some sort of force field-spell thing surrounding Wally and Mr. Nelson, who was currently lying on the ground.

"Wally, what-"

I was hit from behind with something. What, I didn't know. My instincts took over and I glided with my wings to gain ground. The kid had some sort of red energy-stuff around his hands, which he used to throw at me.

I managed to dodge most of the attacks, but as I got into a pattern, he surprised me with a bolt to my wing and sent me spiraling over the edge of wherever we were.

I hit the ground hard. My body lie still for a moment as the shock settled in. I got up slowly, thankful for my armor and enhanced endurance. I realized that I was back at the bottom of the tower, as I saw my mace sitting where I'd left it at the door.

Not thinking twice, I grabbed it and flew back up to where the battle was taking place. I found it easier to fly when I had the mace, which was a little bit weird, but also cool.

I arrived just in time to see the magic kid rip apart the bubble that protected Wally and Mr. Nelson, although he was nowhere in my sight.

"No!" I screamed as he sent a big wave of red fire in Wally's direction. I tried to reach him, but I couldn't in time.

And then suddenly he was dressed in Doctor Fate's costume that I saw on the Cave. He put up a protective shield spell, with the magic kid throwing more fireballs at him.

"Give it up Nabu! Order went out of style in the twentieth century!" He shouted. _Nabu?_ I shook my head. NO was no time to be confused.

"Leave him alone!" I shouted, drawing his attention. I swung my weapon as he shot a beam of red energy my way, and was surprised to see the mace blocked the attack.

The kid tried again, with more fireballs this time. And each time I deflected the magic with my mace.

"This is not your fight, Thanagarian!" A deep voice intruded, as I was suddenly surrounded by a yellow bubble like Wally had earlier, although this one was smaller.

"Hey! I want to help!" I banged on the force field, and used my mace to try to get through it, but the bubble wouldn't budge. I could only get my weapon out of it, but if I threw it, I'd be handing over my greatest weapon to the enemy. So, out of options, I simply had to watch as Doctor Fate and the magic Kid dukes it out.

"This battle is pointless!" Fate exclaimed. "You sought to take the Helmet before it gained a host, but you are too late."

"Shut it you old fart!" The magic kid was growing angry and two columns of rock shot out from the ground and smashed Fate. A glowing symbol appeared as Fate broke out, and the battle resumed.

Fate shot out a beam of golden energy, which made the magic kid turn to ashes, but the ashes reformed behind the Doctor, and he shot out a bolt of red lightning that hit its mark.

"No, stop!" I cried out in vain. The magic kid formed a dragon head-shaped attack, which Fate avoided, blocked with a shield, and was hit by. I watched helplessly as he tried to fend off the magic kid, but Fate ended up lying in the ground in front of the kid.

"You're out of practice, Nabu! And that pathetic host body, zero affinity for the Mystic Arts." The kid taunted. He raised his hands as I looked above. Clouds were forming into a mini thunderstorm above the tower, sparking our red lightning.

One bolt targeted Doctor Fate, as he put up a yellow bubble to protect himself.

"Ooh, rainbow power." The kid commented. I heard a cat's meow, and realized that the orange cat was by his side.

" I _am_ paying attention, you stupid cat." _Wait, he can communicate with it?_ "In case you haven't noticed, I'm _winning,_ " the magic kid said.

Doctor Fate freed himself with an explosion, as golden fire surrounded him. "It is difficult for a Lord of Order or Chaos to maintain a presence on the physical plane. I am bound to the helmet, and use a human host. But that is not your way."

"You're babbling, Nabu!" I didn't think the magic kid could get any creepier, but he did as red beady eyes replaced his normal-looking ones. _Wait a minute..._ I thought about Doctor Fate's words. _They must have an anchor…_

Doctor Fate sent a golden beam towards the magic kid's cat, as it was knocked back. I saw the kid's form go see-through for a moment, and figured the cat must be his anchor.

"Teekl!" The kid yelled. He turned to Fate, boiling mad. "I can't believe you would assault a defenseless pussycat!"

"We both know that creature is no cat, witch boy. And without your familiar, you have no anchor in this reality." _Ha! So I was right!_

"Bully! Killjoy! _Geezer!_ " The Witch Boy shouted angrily at Doctor Fate. He simply shot a beam of golden energy at the kid, who teleported back to his not-cat.

"We're outta here!" He then dissipated into red and black tendrils that went into the sky. Fate turned to me now, and finally lowered the force field around me.

"Finally! Thank you! Although you could've done that earlier and we'd have been done with the Witch Boy a lot sooner." I thanked him and complained in one breath. He didn't reply, and instead looked off into the distance.

"Hello? Doctor Fate?" I went up and waved a hand in his face. He still didn't move. Finally, he reached up and took the helmet off, making his costume disappear and left Wally in his place.

"Wally!" I tackled him into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay! What happened?" I talked fast. He shook his head and turned.

"It's a...long story." He answered as he walked to a figure in the ground. I recognized it as Mr. Nelson.

I let out a gasp. _Is he…_ he wasn't moving, and his eyes were closed. Wally bent down and put something in his hand, closing his fingers around it as well.

I stared at the still body. My mouth fell open in shock as I realized that he had died. _Death..._ my mind could hardly wrap itself around the concept, but at the same time it felt like I had seen dozens of bodies like this. I didn't know how to react.

We all sat in the Bio-Ship in mourning for Kent Nelson. Wally seemed the most affected. Instead of his usual quirky grin and sarcasm, he was silent and solemn. I was too.

I retired to my room as soon as I got back, not even stopping to check in with Dr. Richards, who probably wasn't even there now. I took off my hero outfit and put on my pajamas. I sat on the bed for a long time. I didn't move. I didn't think. All I saw was the face of Kent Nelson.

I cried that night. I think it was the first time I ever did.

* * *

 **A/N: I was initially going to write out some more filler with this chapter, but it ended up going too deep into one of my own subplots, so I saved that chapter for later and went ahead and wrote out "Denial."**

 **I honestly didn't really know how to go about this chapter, as I read somewhere that Nth metal negates magic. But I worked around that.**

 **Reviews, followers, and favorites are always appreciated here. =)**


	18. Chapter 18

"Xavier, what does it mean to ask someone out?" I sat on the table-mat in the Central City office a couple of mornings after the mission with Doctor Fate. The blond teen was working at the desk doing homework, his back to me. He turned to answer my question.

He looked confused at first, then scratched at the back of his neck. He seemed to do that often. "Well, it's like another way to say going on a date." He answered. I was still confused.

"And what's a date?"

"Uh, well, it's…" he trailed off. "It's ah, it's sort of like going somewhere special with someone special to you, someone that you, y'know, like. And you take them somewhere so you can spend time with them." I got the feeling it was a touchy subject by the way he turned away from me and stumbled over his words.

"Have you ever been on a date before?" I was curious to see what one was like.

"Me? Uh, no, actually. I haven't." He answered.

"Well, that makes two of us." I remarked, smiling. He turned his head to me and smiled back. I thought I heard him say something else, but I couldn't pick it up.

"Xavier?" I asked again.

He turned to look at me with a curious expression.

"How do you dance?"

He looked confused for a moment. "Well, there are lots of kinds of dances. Why do you ask?"

"I saw it last night. On _Doctor Who._ They put on some music and they swayed with it, like this," I hopped down as I explained, and took his hand in mine and tried to mimic the swaying motion I saw on the TV box. I laughed in embarrassment as I found out I'm not very good at swaying.

Xavier laughed with me as well. "Hold on," he said as he pulled out a small tablet-thing, breaking the motion. After a minute, there was slow music playing through the device, as Xavier took my hand and showed me how to dance. "Well, uh, for one thing, you usually let someone else lead."

I put my other hand on his shoulder as he led me through some easy steps. Step, turn, step, turn. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," I remarked. I hadn't even realized that the music had stopped. Or that Xavier's hand was on my waist. I didn't really want to stop dancing, but Xavier broke the spell first by stepping away.

"You're, umm, you're doing great," he complimented before going back to his work. I was disappointed for some reason, but I said goodbye anyway and went back to the Zeta tube.

I returned to the Cave shortly after. I had a sandwich for lunch, and then once I had done that, I got into my hero uniform to do a fly around the city.

I exited through the bay doors, carrying my mace with me as it somehow made me lighter when I had it.

I flexed my wings, and took off into the air. It was a beautiful day. I skimmed near the water, enjoying the feeling of the sea spray on my face and wings, before banking and climbing above the town's buildings.

I paused to look around. The humans on the ground seemed so small from up here. I dove back down, winding through the streets. I slowed to wave at some pedestrians, before climbing up into the clouds.

They looked much different then they felt. By the time I reached above them, the temperature had already dropped some, and my wings now had ice crystals forming. I let my wings fold in as I embraced the feeling of falling back down to Earth.

Before I hit the beach, though, I spread my wings like a parachute and let the wing carry me back to Mount Justice.

Landing by the doors to the garage, the computer scanned me as I entered and announced my arrival. Out of breath, I collapsed on the couch in the living room as I turned on the TV box. Some sort of animated show was playing. I didn't really pay attention.

Soon after, though, I was called to the main room along with the rest of the team minus Robin and Artemis. I wondered where they were, but then saw Robin sitting next to Batman on the screen. They were both covered in mud.

"Attention, team," Batman called. "Take a Zeta tube to Gotham City immediately and rendezvous with Robin at these coordinates."

"What is the mission?" Aqualad asked.

"Shouldn't we wait for Artemis?" Kid Flash wondered.

"Yeah, where _is_ Artemis?" I turned to the kid in yellow. He shrugged in answer.

"Don't wait. There's a creature loose in my city." Batman interjected.

"If it's your city, then why are we hunting it?" Superboy questioned the Leaguer.

"You are not to hunt it or engage. Track it until I return with the solution." Batman seemed to dodge the question, but gave us the mission nonetheless.

Pretty soon the team, in stealth suits, were tracking down the sewers of Gotham City.

" _So, what does this creature look like? How are we supposed to track it if we don't even know_ what _to track?"_ I asked over the psychic link.

 _We're looking for something made entirely out of clay, like a living statue."_ Robin answered. That didn't help. I stepped for the fiftieth time into a puddle of who knows what looking for this monster down on here.

" _Kaldur?"_ Miss Martian asked. _"Kaldur…Aqualad! Are you linked up?"_

" _What…?"_ Aqualad answered. Even his mental voice sounded far away. _"Oh yes, Miss Martian, your psychic link functions perfectly."_

" _That's a relief. We couldn't hear you."_

" _Like your every thought was a million miles away."_ I added to Miss Martian's statement.

All of a sudden, I was grabbed and hit the side of the sewer forcefully, held in pace by some kind of mud creature.

I struggled against my captor, trying to break free, but I couldn't get a hold on my mace. I decided to go with the second weapon. As the others started to escape as well, as I slashed the creature's arm with my sai, making me drop to the ground.

"That was unpleasant, like tangling with a rabid Ma'alefa'ak on Mars." Miss Martian commented at the still pile of mud on the ground.

"Unpleasant, sure, but kind of a pushover. What exactly was Batman so worried about?" Kid Flash wondered.

Before I could answer, the thing attached is again, shifting his form. _Wait a minute..._ this _is what we're supposed to be tracking!_ I was knocked against the side again. My shoulder exploded in pain beneath my armor. I fell back down on my stomach into the rotten-smelling sewer water.

"Yes, Batman. Although the encounter was far from successful." Aqualad said. I guessed he was talking through his comm.

"If that's Batman, ask him where Artemis is. And how does she get to skip out on this _so fun_ sewer party?" Kid Flash asked Aqualad as I worked on getting the mud from my outfit. It was difficult.

We walked back through the sewers in defeat as I thought about what to do next. We clearly underestimated that creature's power. The question is, could a thing that can change its shape into anything really be defeated? Was it just toying with us now, waiting and watching from the shadows? I shook my head to clear the questions from my head. Now wasn't a time to ask questions. Now was a time for action.

We returned to the Bio-Ship as everyone changed into clean costumes. As Superboy and I only had the one, we remained covered in muck, but I cleaned myself off the best I could.

"I mean, what's the point of putting on a clean costume if I'm not...fresh?" Kid Flash mused.

"Oh, Wally, you're always fresh." Miss Martian said, which was oddly uncharacteristic.

At least you _have_ a clean costume," I told Kid Flash, showing all the places I still had mud. Superboy agreed with me, as he still had his mud-coated clothing on.

"Yeah, an old backup! No stealth mode! It stinks!" He replied, pressing the symbol on his chest.

"I think that's me, actually." I said about the smell.

"But what about the creature?" Robin asked. "Batman asked us to track it."

"Why settle for that?" Kid Flash asked. "Okay, sure, it got the drop on us, but now we know its tricks!"

"Yeah! We split up!" Robin decided. "Whoever finds old "Clayface" first radios the team…"

"We converge and kick some clay-butt." Superboy finished.

"Are you sure splitting up is the best action for a guy who can shift form?" I asked. Robin just smirked.

"Relax, Hawkgirl. It's not like he has Martian shapeshifting powers or something." His answer didn't quell the uneasiness in my stomach.

"What do you think Aqualad?" Miss Martian asked. The Atlantean had been silent the whole time. I wondered why his mind seemed so far away. Now was not a good time to be having second thoughts.

"What? Oh, yes. It seems like we have a plan." He stood as Miss Martian levitated the Bio-Ship, making hole in the underside, where we were dropped off into an abandoned warehouse.

I stalked around, keeping above the main paths in case Clayface was setting up a trap. I crawled on all fours around the bars on top of the building, looking for any sign of the monster.

I dropped down silently as I spotted a trail of clay leading farther into the compound. I tracked it carefully, stepping lightly as to not alert him to my presence, and listening carefully to any sign of danger.

"Guys, I found the creature! Rendezvous at my coordinates!" Superboy's voice shouted through my comm. I clutched my head in pain and cried out as the loud sound hurt my ears.

That seemed to alert whoever left the trail of clay, as I was ambushed by the creature. I swung my mace at his head, but it got stuck in the clay and he just absorbed it into him. _Well, I don't need that to kick clay-butt,_ I thought as I rushed him.

He knocked me to the side as his hand formed into the head of the mace and hit me upside the head with it. I got up after only a moment, but the monster encircled me in clay. I fought back with my sai, slicing the clay as I had done earlier, but Clayface also seemed to learn from our previous encounter and dodged my attacks.

It looked as if I couldn't beat him. Every move I made he either dodged or just absorbed into his muddy body, as the clay around my feet began to swallow me up. I was fighting until the very end, when his clay overcame my whole body. I still tried to escape, struggling against the liquid, but it came at me from every direction.

It was sticky and hard to move. I still tried to escape, but with every move I made I sank deeper into the clay. I tried to take in air, but the mass around me blocked most passages as the creature began forcing the clay tighter around me. I began to lose consciousness as the clay blocked air from entering my lungs. My eyes were shut tight against the clay, as my thoughts began to dim.

And then, I was spit out. Too weak to do anything but lay there beside my mace, which he also spit out, I took one last look as Aqualad was thrown against the wall of the building, closed my eyes, and fell unconscious.

* * *

 **A/N: A little bit of filler and comics before the first part of Downtime. I plan on trying to continue the trend of having two chapters per episode, even though I've been writing them in one long chapter the past few times. That way, I may be able to update a little faster than if I typed out a full episode in one chapter.**

 **Although, the next chapter is probably going to be more filler as "Downtime" is pretty much all Aqualad.**

 **As always, reviews, followers, and favorites are greatly appreciated here.**


	19. Chapter 19

I woke up in the Bio-Ship. My head hurt like I was fresh out of the ice again. I groaned in pain as I realized that I was laying down. I sat up and saw the team sitting in the ship's front.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked groggily. "Did we win?" The team didn't answer. They were all covered in clay again, and I looked down to see that my costume was as well.

I stood and returned to my usual seat, looking out the window. I had failed. Again. For the fourth time, I think, I was just shoved to the sidelines like some kind of...decoration added to the team. Well, I've had just about enough of that.

 _I'll show them, I'll show all of those wannabe villains not to mess with the Hawkgirl…_

"Tabitha, relax, you're hurting the ship." Megan's voice broke my thoughts. I realized I'd nearly torn through my armrests, and lifted my hands as they left imprints. I folded my hands in my lap instead.

"Hey, Hawkey, don't take it too hard. We were all tricked by Clayface." Wally offered, smiling at me reassuringly. It did little to curve my mood, but I sunk in my chair like it had.

My defeat was the only thing on my mind all the way back home. Sure, it wasn't the first time I was upset I couldn't do anything, but i was determined to make it the last time.

"I need to speak to Aqualad. The rest of you, hit the showers and head home." Batman ordered. _Well, it wasn't home, but…_ after my shower, I put my wet hair into a braid and put on my green shirt and jeans. I didn't care what time it was, I immediately headed to Washington D. C., to the Hall of Justice.

"75...76...77…" I pulled up on the bar in the gym. I was hardly breaking a sweat. Okay, that was a lie. I was exhausted, but I refused to quit even when my arms burned like lava.

I dropped down once I reached 100. Beating my wings, I flew around the ceiling, making laps around the gym from the air. I refused to stop. I refused to think about anything but the screaming pain in my wings and bad shoulder. If I did, I don't think I'd ever get over myself.

I'd failed Batman with Clayface. I'd failed Kent Nelson. I'd failed myself with my weak body. _Not again. Never. Again._

I wasn't going to be pushed to the sidelines ever again _._ Clayface was the final straw. _I'll show them just was a measly clone can do, I'll show them all!_

I didn't stop flying laps until I fell back to the ground with a _thud_. I got back up, flexing my shoulder, but my wings refused to move.

"Don't quit on me now," I tried flying again, but the muscles were shot and I fell back down. "Alright then, just a quick nap…"

I woke up still on the floor. Everything was sore. I noticed shadows up above me, and looked to see Hawkman and Hawkwoman. I tried to stand to face them and ended up being caught by one of them, I wasn't sure. I was walked and sat on a bench, as Hawkman demanded an explanation as to why I was collapsed on the floor.

"I...I was just-training." I said between gasps of air. "I'm alright. Let's get on with it." I sat up straighter in defiance.

"No," Hawkwoman denied. "You need rest. Have you been here all night?" I nodded slowly. They both sighed.

"Hawkgirl, this isn't training. It's torture. Your body is still weak and-"

"I'm not weak! I'll never be weak," I shouted, interrupting Hawkman. I glared at them. "Never again. I won't be pushed to the side again."

They exchanged a look, then turned back to me. "I know the last few missions have been...challenging for you, but there will always be another chance." Hawkwoman put a hand on my good shoulder carefully.

"But what if there won't be? What if…?" I couldn't finish my own sentence. The image of Kent Nelson's still face was still burned into my head. "I should've done more, I should've-"

"You did all you could." Hawkwoman finished for me. I was still unconvinced.

"I wasn't able to save Kent Nelson." I admitted, staring at the ground. I heard Hawkwoman sigh.

"But you _were_ able to save the Helmet of Fate from falling into the wrong hands. "You stopped an assassin from killing Dr. Roquette. You were able to beat Blockbuster back in Cadmus when you were weaker than you are now. Sometimes, saving the world doesn't mean saving everyone, but we get back up from our defeats. We learn from our mistakes. Do you know why?" I shook my head at her question. "To give people a chance. Because if we don't fight, then perhaps next time we will save no one." Hawkwoman knelt down to meet my eyes as she spoke. The words helped calm me down enough, but I was still too weak to stand without help.

The Hawks walked with me back to the Zeta tube, where we all went through and into the Cave. I showed them to my room as I laid in my bed.

"Get some rest, now. Call Batman or Red Tornado if you need anything." Hawkman said. And then they left, probably going back to Chicago. Lucky.

I rolled over on my side. Hawkwoman's words still echoed in my mind. I _did_ want to fight. But I had gone about it wrong. I was fighting for myself, to make myself look better on the team. That's not why they fought. They fought for peace, for justice, for the people. To keep them safe and give them a chance at a normal life. I wish I could say the same for me. I wasn't even sure where I had put my necklace Giovanni Zatara gave me.

My wings felt less sore now that they weren't being worked so hard, so I thought it would do me some good to not fly around for a while.

I ended up stiffly walking to the kitchen for something to eat. I realized earlier that I hadn't eaten since yesterday around noon, and it looked to be the afternoon by Washington D. C. time.

I passed Red Tornado walking out on the way there. I half-turned as he seemed to walk right past me without even a "hello," but perhaps that was just his robot brain.

As I stepped into the kitchen, I suddenly knew why he walked out. Superboy was sitting in front of the TV box, covered in what looked to by milk. Megan was simply chopping onions for dinner.

I snuck past the Martian and grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl and quickly retreated back to my room.

The day blended together. I didn't fall asleep, but I wasn't fully awake either. I was caught in the narrow edge between the dream world and reality. I didn't know which was worse.

Soon, I grew bored, and decided to clean my suit of the clay it had. I went to the kitchen again, with Superboy now gone, probably to clean up. I started the sink and began to wash, when Megan appeared behind me.

"Need some help with that?" She asked. I stayed quiet, but nodded. She lifted her hands and levitated the clothes in front of her. In one swift motion, the clothes were clean and dry.

"Wow, you're a timesaver." I commented. She smiled at my words and handed the suit back. I returned again to my room afterwards, once again blurring the line between what was real and what wasn't.

But how do I _know_ my dreams weren't real? What if they really _were_ memories from a forgotten past? And why couldn't I remember what happened in Cadmus? It was like they specifically wiped my brain of anything that happened to me in the lab. It didn't make sense.

I sat up, clutching my head as the pain returned from thinking of Cadmus too much. It was sort of a freezing pain, a feeling like my brain was being turned into ice again. I decided to try to watch some TV box show to clear my head.

I headed out to the main room just before Batman called the team down. I mentally groaned at having to get changed again, but I did it as quickly as possible and ended up being the second-to-last person to arrive in front of Aqualad. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen him all day…

"Made your decision?" Batman asked the Atlantean. _Decision? What decision?_

"The decision is made. I am here. One hundred percent." Aqualad replied to my dislike. He didn't offer up much of an answer to my question.

"Good. You're just in time for your next mission." Batman pulled up a map of...someplace.

"The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyan desert." Batman began. _Wait, what's the Watchtower?_

* * *

 **A/N: Get ready for a rollercoaster ride with the next chapter. Oh, I got some** _ **plans**_ **for "Bereft." Lots of plans. *evil laugh***

 **Sorry the last two chapters have been kinda short. I promise the next one will run a while.**

 **Anyways, reviews, followers, and favorites are all appreciated here.**


	20. Chapter 20

I awoke abruptly, jerking my eyelids open. I looked around as I lay on something soft that I couldn't make out.

I tried to sit up, but I had a searing pain in my head that I knew wasn't specifically for this mission. I felt dizzy, and knelt on my elbows surrounded by what I now recognized as sand in the moonlight. _Moonlight..._ it was night here. That was strange. Last time I remember it was daytime...

 _Sand...why sand?_ I thought as I picked up a little and let it sift through my fingers. _No, no time for that. Focus on the mission._ But what _was_ the mission, exactly?

" _Dubbilex? Are you there?"_ I called out mentally, asking the Genomorph for help. No answer. I guessed I had to figure it out on my own.

By now I had enough strength to stand. I looked around, finding nothing but dunes and some rocky cliffs in the distance. Those were my best bet to finding out where I was, other than a desert. There were lots of deserts, but which one was this? I had to find out.

Spreading my wings and flinching in surprise to find them only halfway respond, I looked back to see that they looked much weaker than when i last used them. I groaned. _Of course, the "no flying in the desert" rule just_ had _to be in play here._

I started walking then. I looked down at a noise and found I was covered in some sort of...armor. The night was cool right now, but come daytime I would likely have to start shedding some layers if I didn't reach those cliffs by sunrise.

I walked faster, picking up speed as my feet dragged the soft ground. It wasn't just my wings that felt weak, though. My whole body felt like it had been put through a meat processor. But I continued on towards my goal.

I heard a shout, and then suddenly had someone come ambush me from above. I barely had time to bring my arm up in defense before the person knocked me back into the dune. He looked angry, very angry. His face seemed almost familiar, though…

He rushed at me again, but this time I was prepared. I stood my ground as he rushed at me, and caught both hands as they made a desperate attempt to get to me. I smirked and threw him up into the air.

Using my wings, I flew and met him above the ground, and knocked him back down. Pushing against the air, I sent both my feet into his chest as he hit the sand, scattering it everywhere on impact. I leaped off of him as he growled and jumped into the air. He kept jumping higher than any human could off into the distance. I breathed a sigh of relief. Right now he was merely a distraction from my goal.

I continued along my way, running through the desert now and using my wings to gain even more speed. I stopped for a quick rest before continuing on foot again.

By now it was morning. Great, now my time to find shade would be up soon. I didn't seem to have any water on me, just a mace and sai hanging from my belt. _At least I'm not defenseless,_ I thought, observing the sai carefully.

Another pair of muffled footsteps caught my attention as I neared a rocky obelisk. I immediately took cover and peered around a corner to see who it was.

There was a boy who looked shorter than me, with a red shirt, a mask, and black cape. I recognized him. Robin, the Boy Wonder, sidekick to Batman. And if he was here, then…

I put two and two together. So now I had three enemies in Robin, Batman, and the boy I fought earlier. That must've been my mission, taking down Batman.

Before I could ambush Robin, though, I heard trucks approaching. Staying where I was, I waited until they passed as I caught some words from Robin.

"Those...Bialyan Republic Army...what am I...in September? What happened to March?" At least I had dates now.

I heard him drop from the ledge, I decided to make myself known. I held the handle of my mace and flew out above him, being careful not to block out the sun.

As I closed in on my target and raised the mace above my head, something...stirred within me.

 _I was flying through a tornado, barely managing to keep my balance through the wind._

 _I landed safely. I heard footsteps behind me. "Hawkgirl, you flew!" I turned to see Robin grinning at me excitedly. I smiled back._

I ended up missing Robin by a few inches and gave away my position because of that...I didn't know what to call it.

Robin flipped backwards as I brandished my mace. He threw a couple of disks at me, which I deflected and rushed at him. I swung my wing at his head, but he ducked and rolled under my attack. Before I could rush him again, Robin threw a smoke bomb and disappeared.

I gritted my teeth in frustration. I hadn't thought to put a tracker on him -didn't even think I _had_ any trackers- but he must rendezvous with Batman sometime. If only I knew which direction he'd gone in…

I knelt down to the ground, studying his tracks left in the sand. They just pointed back at me. Great.

I heard noises again, this time coming from the north. I guessed that was my best bet to finding Batman and Robin. I headed off in that direction once I climbed the rocks and used the stronger winds to keep me aloft.

I saw smoke in the distance. Figuring that's where the noise was coming from I kept going.

It was sundown by the time I reached the place. I kept going, not caring about the heat, or the fact that i have no previous recollection of anything before waking up, but I instead focused on finding Batman. He must've been here, right? His little sidekick wouldn't be out here all alone.

I saw more explosions coming from a group of tanks and trucks who seemed to be targeting something specific. I landed on top of one of the cliffs to get a better look at the action.

There was someone with a bow, and then a black blur. I studied the two. I only really knew of one person who could run that fast, but he didn't wear black. I knew of a lot of archers, but that one didn't seem familiar. Another memory shot up into my head.

 _I was walking along in the jungle. I saw two people ahead of me, one was a boy with black hair, a black t-shirt, and cargo pants, and the other was a girl with red hair, wearing a blue cape with a hood._

" _Okay, Rob, now what?" Another voice asked. I turned to see someone wearing a black suit with a lightning bolt symbol on the front. Whoever he had directed his question to was already gone._

" _Man, I hate it when he does that." He said._

" _What if we split up? Y'know, cover more ground?" I offered._

 _The boy scoffed. "And risk getting ambushed out here?"_

I shook my head clear. These new...memories, I think, we're getting annoying. Especially when they interfered with my mission.

All of a sudden, the boy I fought earlier appeared and dropped down in front of the two people. I watched from above as the fast kid was knocked to the cliff side as the archer kept shooting explosive arrows that did very little damage to the madman. _So he's indestructible...but that would mean…_

Before I could finish my thought, a middle was launched in the boy's direction, as he leaped off to deal with the tank that shot it. While he was busy, I also dropped down between the two that were currently laying on the ground.

 _Hmm, only weaker. Good,_ I thought with equal parts disappointment and excitement. It would've been nice to already cross the two off my enemies list, but I was also ready for a fight.

I heard the archer get up first. I kicked her bow out of reach as I got out the sai for the job. She looked up at me with fear.

"Wait, where did you get that sai?" She asked as I switched the blade's direction.

"Don't know, don't care," I growled in answer. Before I could bring it back down, though, I was knocked to the side of the cliff wall. My shoulder erupted into pain, but I shrugged it off as the fast kid helped the archer up. I launched myself at him, but he just dashed out of the way.

"Sorry, too slow," he quipped. I brought my mace out and swung it at him, dashing forwards as he once again ran out of the way. Before I could even see him, he had already dashed away and taken the archer with him.

 _That's three targets I've lost already. I'm not getting soft, am I?_ I looked on as the boy continued to tear apart the tanks. _I guess destroying tanks wouldn't cause much harm,_ I decided as I flew up to bash my mace into the side of one, as it fired a missile at the boy, sending him into a dune.

I broke the nozzle of the tank with my mace, bashing it into the body. I ripped up the hood and flew up with the top part still in my hand, and threw it back down onto the tank.

I saw drones fly over my head, heading somewhere else. Now that the tank was destroyed, I decided to follow the drones and see if they could lead me to my targets.

The wind was to my face, though, as I struggled to keep up with the machines. I saw them open fire on something, and flew over to see the fast kid and the archer. _Two birds, one stone_ , I thought as I once again grabbed the handle of my mace.

I flew back down as they became busy with the drones. _"Don't worry, I'm almost there!"_ I heard a voice in my head. But it wasn't Dubbilex. I had no idea who it was.

I missed my targets again. That was becoming frustrating. I landed hard onto the sand beside my two targets. I sat up, staring at them while they looked at me in fear. I didn't attack though, turning my attention to the drones, which by now we're probably targeting me as well as those two.

Suddenly, I saw a girl, who I recognized as the one from my last memory, flying behind them. She clapped her hands, and the drones flew into each other in an explosion. She drifted downwards towards us as I stared in disbelief.

 _Now I have to kill Robin, Batman, the fast kid, the archer,_ and _a Martian?_ This was getting too confusing. I wished Dubbilex was here to give me a clue, a word, _something_ to help me figure out what was going on.

"Wow, J'onn, the costume looks...familiar, but I'm not sure the new bod screams 'manhunter.'" The fast Kid commented. I decided to play it safe for now and bide my time with these three. I didn't want to start a fight with them so easily being able to gang up on me.

"You know my uncle J'onn?" The girl asked. "Hello Megan, of course you do. You're Kid Flash, Wally! And you're Artemis!" She gestured to the fast boy and the archer, respectively. "And you're Hawkgirl!" My eyes widened from her words.

"How do you know my name?" I pointed my mace at her accusingly. I'd never seen her before save from some weird dream/possible memory.

"It's okay. We're teammates, friends. I made you cookies." She raised her hands in surrender. I scoffed in disbelief.

"I work alone," I said, putting away my mace and crossing my arms. I was still upset I had to pretend I was okay with all these targets in the same place and I couldn't do anything to take them out. At least, not yet.

"Wait, how come you're not all crazy like Superboy?" The girl asked me. "He was a Cadmus clone too, so why do you still have memories?"

 _Cadmus, how does she know about Cadmus?_ That must've been my mission all along. The heroes must've learned about Cadmus and I was called in to deal with them. _That's_ why there's so many heroes running around.

I narrowed my eyes at her and made a dash for the Martian. I didn't care whether or not there were three against one, they already knew too much.

In a second, my mace was in my hand and I swung it as she flew behind the attack, gasping. I heard an arrow fire from Artemis, which I was prepared to deflect with my mace, but instead it split into a net that incapacitated me in a moment. I was _really_ starting to get frustrated on how fast I went down.

I struggled against the bindings. "Yeah, good luck getting out of that. Synthesized steel fibers. Those ropes would hold a Kryptonian." Artemis explained my position.

I stopped trying to escape. There was no point. I'd been captured. There was nothing I could do but glare at the heroes.

"Come on,Robin and Superboy need our help." The Martian girl said as she levitated me towards some more smoke. _Wait, I was allied with Robin? I was a hero?_ That couldn't be. These people -these _heroes_ -were the enemy. I wouldn't deflect from Cadmus if they ordered me to.

"Of course, Robin and Super-what now?" Kid Flash asked as he and Artemis followed us.

It was dark again. The sun had set already, and the air was beginning to turn cool. I stopped listening to Miss Martian as she spoke her name and origin. I refused to believe that I was on their side and we were a supposed "covert ops team."

"Hawkgirl, Robin and Kid Flash rescued you from Cadmus, Superboy too." Miss mArtian turned to me. I scowled at her, not believing one word. She was trying to turn me to their side with my so-called memories. Well, I wasn't going to buy it.

"Your mentors are Hawkman and Hawkwoman, you said you remembered some things from before Cadmus, and you're my best friend." She tried to explain.

"I don't have friends. Only enemies." I glared at her as I spoke. It was true. As soon as I could get free, I would kill them all, including Robin and Superboy, so they couldn't reveal Cadmus's secrets to anyone. Miss Martian sighed and flew in silence.

I discretely worked on finding a weak point in my bindings. They seemed strong, and wouldn't even budge when I almost sliced my wrists against them. But then I felt it, a single loose fiber.

That was enough for me. I carefully used that one tiny weakness in the ropes and worked my sai into my hand. Being careful to not make a sound, I began sawing at the ropes. It took a while before one more fiber broke. Then another. Then another until the rope was severed about a third of the way through.

I saw us come onto a battle already in progress, as armed men shot at what I assumed to be Robin. My eyes weren't so good in the dark of night. Thankfully it was a full moon tonight, though.

I broke my way out of the net with brute force, grabbing the mace handle. I rushed at one soldier a she took a mace to the head, and knocked another with my wing.

"These targets are _mine,_ " I growled as I swung my mace at another man, sending him flying backwards into the dune.

As soon as the battle was over and before I could attack the others, I was once again trapped in another net from Artemis. She glared at me, daring me to try to escape again. I didn't, for the time being, and listened with disdain as the heroes compared their memories.

I still wasn't buying it that I was on their side. They knew about Cadmus, they had to be killed! I said nothing as some occasionally glanced my way. Still, I couldn't help but wonder about those earlier memories. Did I really work with these people? Were we really a team? Was I really working with these heroes? Did that make me a hero as well? I shuddered at the thought of working alongside these sidekicks and their mentors.

But, at least for now, I'll pretend I bought their little web of lies. Pretending to actually be on their side might actually prove more useful that going against them straightaway. It would make killing them a whole lot easier.

* * *

 **A/N: See? I told you it would be a rollercoaster. And now you know where Hawkgirl gets her "battle personality" from.**

 **As always, reviews, followers, and favorites are all appreciated here.**


	21. Chapter 21

So we're a team?" Robin asked Miss Martian.

"The five of us and Superboy." She answered. I didn't want to be included in their "super-sidekicks" club, but I went along with it.

"Then this must be his," the Boy Wonder produced a scrap of clothing that I saw had Superman's "S" shield on it. Miss mArtian took it.

"Yes! Did you see him?"

"I think we did." Artemis answered.

"Feral Boy?" Kid Flash asked. "Some teammate. He attacked us." He said, sending a hard glare in my direction. I mirrored his.

"He didn't know who we are. _I_ don't know who we are!" Artemis exclaimed.

"I remember Batman ordering radio silence. Our team must work for him!" Robin deduced. _Yeah, right. And I'm the Queen of Atlantis._

"Hey, how do you know we don't work for _my_ mentor?" Kid Flash asked, pointing to his chest. All of a sudden, he suit changed from a black to a yellow and red. I wish I could test that out on mine, but my hands were tied at the moment. He did it a few more times.

"We look ridiculous. Quit touching yourself!" Artemis said. He did it one more time to annoy her. "We need our memories back."

I saw Miss Martian put her hands to her temple, as I was suddenly within a space-looking place with bunches of shards that looked like snippets of what I saw in my memories from earlier. The other were also transported.

"I've brought you into my mind to share what I've learned so far. But I need your help. Together our broken memories can form a whole, if you open your minds to mine." She explained.

"You want to dig through our private thoughts?" Artemis exclaimed.

"You won't find much in here, that's for sure," I said, referring to my own mind.

"I have no wish to intrude, but-"

"You need to hack our brains to grab what happened to us, got it. Go." Robin interrupted Miss Martian.

"My brain's all yours, try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you." Kid Flash said in a strange tone.

"Or _under_ whelm you. Hey, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" _I don't think that how words work…_

"Last six months _only._ And only what you need." Artemis said as Kid Flash stood by her and took her hand. I didn't understand the gesture. Miss Martian linked us all to our broken memories.

Scenes flooded my mind. Rescue from Cadmus, defeating Blockbuster, joining the team, Xavier, our battle against Mister Twister, our first mission, becoming the Hawks' protégé, battling Amazo, meeting Artemis, keepin Dr. Roquette safe, and getting beat by Clayface. One memory stood out from the rest, though.

 _I was sitting in some kind of ship, except this one didn't sail. It flew. I looked out the window as the sea rolled past underneath the red and blue ship._

" _You feeling nervous?" I turned as Robin asked his question._

" _No, why?"_

" _Good. You just seemed awfully quiet lately." He noted. I shook my head._

" _Just...thinking about our last mission." I admitted, putting my palm on my head._

" _Hey, don't beat yourself up over Clayface. You did the best you could." He reassured me with a smile. I returned the gesture._

" _Approaching Bialya," Miss Martian announced from the controls. I pressed the button on my suit making it turn darker shades of red, yellow, and green as the ship landed and the team got ready._

Other memories appeared in my mind, although they weren't as clear as the one I had. All of it was about setting up in the desert, save for…

"Aqualad!" I shouted in unison with the rest of the team, who I now remembered.

"Where is he? What happened next?" Robin asked.

"I don't know, that's the last thing you-we remember." Miss Martian replied. Now that I was no longer someone bad, I tried cutting my way out again. No one stopped me this time.

It was quicker the second time around. I cut through the weaker ropes and broke free, standing up.

"It's alright, I'm not trying to...kill you now." I explained as the team backed away.

"We've been wandering the desert for over 24 hours. If Kaldur's been missin that long...we'll, that's not good for a guy with gills." Kid Flash said after breaking away from Artemis.

"Now that I know to look for him," Robin brought up his gauntlet computer, "he's close! But he's not moving." He announced to the rest of us.

We hurried off, following Robin's lead. I took to the air with Miss Martian, looking for any sign of the Atlantean.

"There!" Miss Martian pointed down. I could hardly make it out, but the figure of someone lying on the ground was just a few meters away from us. I landed on the ground running, as the team reached Kaldur.

He was speaking in some sort of language I didn't understand as Miss Martian cradled him.

"I can't restore his memories in this condition." She said.

"He needs immediate rehydration. Call the Bio-Ship." Robin ordered.

"It's out of range, but you can get him there fast," she looked at Kid Flash.

"He's too heavy, and I'm too low on fuel. Right now, I couldn't even carry her." He pointed to Artemis.

"I'll carry him. Tell me where the ship is and I can fly him back there." I stepped up. Everyone looked at me, but I remained determined to help. Robin was the first to step up, showing me the map of Bialya, pointing to where we were and where the ship is. I nodded in agreement.

I put my hand on Aqualad's back and then back of his knees, stretching my wings as Miss Martian went to help Superboy.

It was tiring being already worn out from having no memories of the team and carrying Aqualad, but I managed with a strong tailwind.

The recent events played over in my head. I wondered if the team remembers what they were like before like I still did. _Was I really like that in Cadmus? Was I just some...assassin like the masked cat lady? Did I really try to kill my friends?_ I almost missed the Bio-Ship I was so lost in thought.

I flew down to the ship, trying to open a hatch to get in. The ship responded to me as I carried Aqualad in and laid him down on a mat. The rest of the team followed shortly after me, and soon Aqualad was resting and gathering his strength and rehydrating.

"So, Hawkey, mind telling us why you tried to kill us all when you lost your memories?" Wally asked once Kaldu was safe. I had hoped no one would ask, but that was a pretty big thing not to wonder about. I shook my head.

"I remember it all. I thought you all were…targets. I thought I was supposed to kill you because you knew too much about Cadmus. About me. I'm sorry, I didn't know." I apologized.

"It's fine. You didn't remember who we were or how you got here." Artemis reassured me, putting a hand on my shoulder. I smiled at the gesture, but I still felt guilty.

"I didn't believe Megan when she said I was on a team. That I would work with...heroes. I just pretended to so I could strike out when the time was right." I admitted, remembering my previous mindset clearly. The team didn't seem to know how to respond.

" _Hey everybody, I've got Superboy. He's back to normal and we're on our way."_ Megan broke the tension over the psychic link. I still had second thoughts. _So that's why I was created...to snuff out anyone who knew too much about Cadmus. I was an assassin for them...a killer…_

But I wasn't anymore. I was a good person on a good team. We worked together to bring down the bad guys, including Cadmus. Killing wasn't my purpose anymore. Saving others, doing the right thing, helping people who needed it, that was my purpose now. Keeping the world safe was my mission.

I stayed quiet the whole way back. The silence was deafening, even when others made small talk. I couldn't stop thinking about Cadmus. I didn't care about the headache, I just wanted answers.

What did Cadmus do to me? What did they want from me?

* * *

 **A/N: A bit of a resolution as to what Hawkgirl's original purpose is. I'm going to write out the B-plot for "Targets" with Megan and Connor going to school with Tabitha and all that, and then, during "Terrors," things are going to really start to heat up.**

 **Reviews, followers, and favorites are all greatly appreciated here.**


	22. Chapter 22

The team seemed to give me a wide berth for the time being once we arrived back at the Cave. I couldn't blame them. It wasn't their fault that I suddenly turned psycho and tried to kill them. It was mine.

Maybe I didn't see it before, maybe I didn't _want_ to, but all those times I had fought and disregarded everything, every dark thought I had since I got out of the ice came flooding back. I stayed in my room most of the time. Some members of the team like Megan or Kaldur had tried to get me to talk about it, but I just pushed them away. I didn't want my "battle-mode" to accidentally activate while in the Cave. I went back to barely eating.

My body got weaker the more I refused to train or eat. Sleep was hard to come by then, and even when I did it was fitful. I often awoke in a cold sweat in the middle of the night and didn't go back to sleep.

Batman soon realized what had happened from the team, and I was told to go the Black Canary to get some help. We sat in a room with two green chairs, some small plants, and a waterfall decoration.

"So, Hawkgirl," Canary began. I stopped her.

"It's Tabitha."

She sighed softly. "Tabitha, I know the Bialya mission didn't go exactly as planned, but-"

"How do _you_ know what happened?" I retorted angrily. Her disposition never changed.

"Batman filled me in. Tabitha, I know things have been hard lately learning of your purpose, but you can't be afraid to open up to your friends. We all care about you and want the best for you."

"And what if something triggers my assassin-mode again? You can't deny that hasn't been there from the beginning." I crossed my arms.

"Listen, I can't say I've been trained as an assassin like you, but bottling up everything inside of you will just make things worse." She reached over and put a hand on my knee. "Tabitha, please, open up. You can talk to me."

I sighed. Looking away, I admitted my feelings. "I just feel...scared. Terrified, really. I can't even trust my own mind not to go berserk or something now. How can I live with myself or the team now that I know I was made to kill?" I shut my eyes to keep the tears from falling.

"You can talk to them." Black Canary offered. "Just, tell them everything you know. I've seen the way you're all a part of the team. They'll understand, if you just give them the chance."

"And...and what if they don't? What if they can't trust me anymore? I don't even trust me anymore. I'm...lost and confused. I don't know what to do." I let a few tears escape, not making a move to wipe the away.

"Trust me, Tabitha. Have faith in your teammates. And have faith in yourself. You're not the assassin Cadmus created you to be. You're something much greater than that." I looked at her in silent question.

"You're a hero, Tabitha." She smiled reassuringly at me. I formed a small smile and got up from the chair.

"Thank you, Black Canary." I said as I walked out of the room. I had a specific person in mind for who I was going to talk to first.

I found Superboy sitting on the couch in the living room alone. "Superboy?" I asked softly as I moved and sat down beside him. He raised an eyebrow.

"I talked with Black Canary, about the Bialya mission? And she thought it was best if I tell the team everything I know. I guess you would know the most about Cadmus, so I decided to start with you." I admitted. He moved to face me on the couch.

"Okay, so tell me everything you know." I could tell he was trying to be gentle with the subject, which made me glad that he was the first one I talked to.

"Well, I know I'm not a pure clone. I had a history before Cadmus, one with a house and someone to take care of me. Then in Cadmus they trained me -programmed me- to be an assassin. To kill anyone they thought would be a threat to them. But I was too soft. I wouldn't do it. I tried, but I didn't have it in me. Then next thing I knew, I woke up in front of Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad." I explained what I knew and for once left out everything I didn't. "I know I must've been there longer than six months, or else I wouldn't have remembered anything in the desert."

Superboy stayed quiet throughout my explanation, but I could tell he was more than a little frustrated that he was the only true Cadmus clone. I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Superboy, thank you for listening. I know it hurts to be the only real clone, but I'm still your sister." I smiled at him, as he returned it with a small grin which quickly turned back into a frown.

"But how come Hawkman and Hawkwoman just...accepted you so easily? Even if you're not a true clone…" he trailed off. I wondered what was eating at him.

"Sometimes I wish they'd just ignore you like Superman ignores me." He admitted, clenching his fists. "It's not fair, why should you get the good heroes and I just get-"

"Superboy, calm down." I tried to diffuse his temper before something went wrong. "I don't know why the Hawks accepted me quicker than Superman accepted you, but he will. I promise you that. Just give him time." Strangely enough, helping Superboy also seemed to make me feel better as well. He calmed down again as I went to tell the rest of the team the truth about me.

By dinner, everyone on the team knew. I gathered the rest of them in the kitchen and spilled everything in one big explanation now that I had practiced on Superboy. They all seemed to take the news quite well, although they took a minute to respond.

"So...you didn't want to be an...assassin?" Megan talked first. I shrugged.

"I don't think so. I tried to be ruthless, like a killer would be, but I just didn't have it in me. I think they must've abandoned me for, well, for Superboy when I failed." I admitted. I'd come to more conclusions thinking about what happened in Cadmus and Bialya.

"That must've been why we found you in the freezer." Wally added.

"Either way, you're not an assassin now. You're one of us." Robin said. I smiled at the team.

"Thank you all for understanding," was all I managed to say. Megan put her arms around me as I began to tear up again. Everyone then put their arms around me in a big group hug. I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.

I met Black Canary later for training. "Feeling better?" She asked.

"Much better." I replied. "Thank you."

I woke up before my alarm the next morning, getting up as usual and prepared to put my hero costume on, but Megan stopped me by appearing in the doorway.

"Tabitha-oh! You're already up. Good, don't want to be late for our first day of school!" She said excitedly. _Wait, what? I was going to school? How come I never heard anything before now?_

I put my red shirt and jeans on as I looked for my necklace. I searched all over my room, but it somehow evaded my sharp gaze. I eventually found it laying in the bottom corner of my closet.

Wondering how it got there, I put it on so that no one could see my wings except for the team and the League.

Heading down from breakfast, I had just enough time to eat a bowl of cereal before Megan came bursting in again. She levitated all kinds of foods around the kitchen and packing them into paper bags. I followed her down to the garage, where Superboy was working on his motorcycle with the sphere he had brought back from Bialya.

"Ready for school?" Megan called out to him. "I made our lunches."

"The first day of a scholastic season carries great cultural resonance. We want to wish you three well." Martian Manhunter also walked with me, Red Tornado, and Aqualad down to the garage.

"Wait, where's Hawkman and Hawkwoman?" I asked. Red Tornado took the question.

"The Hawks have asked me to tell you that they could not see you off this morning. However, they do plan on meeting with you afterwards." I thanked him for the information. I still had yet to tell them everything about the Bialyan mission, so I was looking forward and dreading to meet with them at the same time.

"You may wish to change before you depart." Aqualad said, more towards Megan and Superboy than me, since I was already dressed in regular clothes.

"Oh, I spent hours picking this outfit!" Megan said as her clothes changed into...what she normally wore. "What do you think? Can M'gann M'orzz pass as an Earth girl now?"

"Well…" Aqualad began, referring to her green skin.

"Just kidding! Meet Megan Morse!" She spun around as her skin changed into a light peach color. "What's your new name?" She asked Superboy.

"My what?" He asked, confused.

"I chose the name John Jones for myself, and suggested John Smith for Red Tornado. You could be a John, too." Martian Manhunter changed from his normal appearance to a dark-skinned human. I thought he looked nice.

"Pass." Superboy replied, crossing his arms.

"Conner has always been my favorite name." Megan said. Superboy-Conner, shrugged and accepted it.

"A last name will also be required." Aqualad said.

"Wait, a last name? I only remember my first name." I replied with surprise. I didn't really catch before that people had two names.

"How about...Hall?" Martian Manhunter asked. I thought about it for a moment. _Tabitha Hall, Tabitha Hall, Tabitha Hall…_ I repeated the name in my head to get a feel for it.

"Okay," I agreed. It did seem to fit. "What about Super-uh, Conner?" I was still trying to get used to calling him by his civilian name.

"Perhaps, Kent." Manhunter spoke again. He seemed to be the go-to guy when it came to names.

"Oh, in memory of Doctor Fate! The late _Kent_ Nelson!" Megan deduced. I thought it was fitting. _Conner Kent, Conner Kent, Conner Kent…_

"Okay, sure. I'd guess it'd be an honor or, something." Conner replied.

"Well, Conner Kent, time to change your shirt." Megan tapped on his chest. He seemed confused as to why he needed to.

"You don't want to reveal your identity." She explained.

He then just...took his shirt off. Right in front of everyone. I looked away in embarrassment.

"Will this work?" He asked.

I heard Megan sigh. "Works for me." I turned back as Conner was now putting his shirt back on inside out.

"Wait, shouldn't I be Conner Nelson?" He asked as we exited the Cave to head to school.

It turned out to be the same on where we fought the masked cat lady the first time. I recognized the building as we were walking past it.

I heard something rolling towards us, and suddenly Conner grabbed someone by his shirt collar and lifted him from the...rolling thing. I didn't know what to call it.

"Explain this." He pointed to the boy's shirt, which had a green and yellow letter "M" on it.

"W-what?" The boy asked.

"Hey, what's your problem?" I turned to see a pretty big guy with a Superman t-shirt on. "Put my man Marvin down." He bossed.

I-I don't think he likes my shirt," Marvin said. I looked around to see pretty much everyone have on some kind of t-shirt with a Justice League symbol on it. I wished I could have one with Hawkman's symbol, but my wings wouldn't be able to fit.

"Your shirt's fine. Everyone's shirt is fine." Conner dropped Marvin and spoke with a strained voice.

"Someone's fine." A girl's voice spoke. _Seriously?_ I thought. _Again? We have to go over this again?_

"Hi, we're new. I'm Megan Morse, this is Conner Kent," Megan introduced.

"Double alliteration, I like it." Marvin said.

"I'm Tabitha Hall," I also introduced myself, getting used to my new name.

Conner and the big guy squared off against each other, as I glanced worriedly at Megan when it looked like a fight was going to break out.

Someone snapped his fingers, breaking the tension. "Okay, time to get to homeroom gang." He said. The other students seemed to obey him, so I guessed he was a teacher. _Wait, homeroom?_

" _Conner!"_ Megan shouted over the psychic link, stopping him from going after the big man.

I started to follow after the rest of the students, but when I saw that Megan and Conner weren't following, I turned back to them as a new girl introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Wendy. I was New last year, so I know how hard it is to fit in, but you two look like instant Bumblebee material to me." She said.

"Bumblebees?" I asked, confused.

"Cheerleaders, the Bumblebees. Tryouts are after school." She explained.

"Thanks, I'll be there. What about you, Tabitha?" Megan turned to me.

"Um, no thanks, I'm fine with...not being a Bumblebee." I dismissed the invitation. A cheerleader wasn't really something that I thought I would be good at, but it seemed to fit Megan perfectly.

The bell rang after a minute. I looked back at Megan and Conner, who seemed to have found two new friends in Wendy and Marvin.

I stuck by Conner's side down the hallways. It was crowded, which made me nervous someone was going to bump into my wings. I tucked them in as tight as they would go.

Homeroom turned out to be a class called "World History." Conner and Megan sat together at a desk, and I walked to the back of the classroom to find a seat next to a girl. She had brown hair like mine, with a yellow shirt and a nice denim jacket that reminded me of Black Canary.

"Hey," she whispered as I sat down. "I'm Beth."

"Tabitha," I whispered back."I'm new here."

"Oh, that's why I didn't recognize you." She said. I looked at her in confusion. "I've lived here my whole life. I know almost everyone that goes here." Well, that made sense. A news report began to play on the TV box up front.

"So, where you from?" She asked. I thought a moment.

"Washington D. C." I answered, remembering the location for the Cadmus facility.

She whistled quietly as the teacher paused the news report. I completely missed what it was about. "Big city," Beth commented.

"Who can tell me about Rhelasia?" The teacher, Mr. Carr, I saw written on the board, asked. "Marvin?"

Said boy was currently dozing off. He jerked up in his seat. "Well, it's better than Fake-asia?" He guessed. I chuckled with the rest of the class.

Mr. Carr sighed. "Anyone else?" He looked around the classroom.

"Modern Rhelasia was created in 1855 and ruled by the Bokun Dynasty until it was divided into North and South Rhelasia by the great powers after World War II." Conner answered automatically. I was surprised. _Cadmus information, possibly?_

"Y'know, he's kinda cute," Beth whispered to me again. I raised an eyebrow. _Not another one…_

"Who, Conner?" I asked, pointing to Superboy.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, Marvin. I'm not really into the big, strong types." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Why? Do you have a thing for Conner?"

I nearly burst out laughing. "He's my brother," I explained once I calmed down.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know." She apologized.

"Beth?" The teacher asked as she straightened up. "Do you and Tabitha have something you want to share with the class?"

"Uh, no sir," she replied meekly. I glanced at Megan, ashamed we were called out by the teacher. She gave me a reassuring smile, though, and I felt better.

The rest of the day passed by quickly. I was separated from Megan and Conner a few times, but I had a lot of classes with Beth. That made me feel better. The only thing bad about this was that I no longer got to train with the Hawks in the mornings.

"Hey, are you coming to tryouts?" Megan asked as we walked out of the school together with Conner. "I know you didn't want to but…"

"I'm sorry, but Red Tornado said to meet with the Hawks after school. Tell me how you do, though!" I called after them as we parted ways. I almost took off with my wings, but remembered that I was wearing my necklace that concealed them. I began walking, then.

I reached the Cave a little bit later. To my surprise, the Hawks were already waiting for me in the main room.

"Batman told us about what happened in Bialya." Hawkman began.

"Would you like to share what _you_ know?" Hawkwoman asked, although I knew it wasn't really a question.

I told them everything I told the team.

* * *

 **A/N: I put in a bit of filler as a response to the previous mission before going on to "Targets." The next two chapters are going to deal with Tabitha going back to Cadmus and figuring a few more things out about herself.**

 **Reviews, favorites, and followers are all always appreciated here.**


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